


hustler

by greensooshi



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blow Jobs, Body Modification, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Insecurity, M/M, Piercings, Romance, Sports, Swimming, cliches, orientation issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 04:18:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 34,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20057896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greensooshi/pseuds/greensooshi
Summary: Kyungsoo falls for his straight best friend, while Jongin thinks he's been toeing on fuzzy lines.





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Prompt R1 KS02
> 
> A/N: title is from a song by blackbear - hustler
> 
> also hi i'm guessing the prompter expected this to be a pwp so im sorry for….giving it a plot…. but i hope it’s an enjoyable read <3

It smells like baby powder.

It always does at this time of day here, in particular, in room 034 of the residence hall. Jongin has nothing against it, even if it means the entire room smells like it when his coursemates crash in to get something from him because apparently the text messenger is not enough.

“Your turn.” A soft voice announces, and Jongin turns to see the owner of it towel drying his wet hair while he sits crosslegged on the bed, fully clothed in pajamas with banana prints. His cheeks are tinted pink after a good hot shower. Jongin has probably been staring too long because Kyungsoo pauses drying his hair to regard Jongin with a chuckle. “I didn’t use your shampoo.”

“I hear you,” Jongin promptly gets up, taking off his Ironman graphic T-shirt and disposing of it in the shared hamper. He took off his accessory rings and place them on his desk before loosing the strings of his sweatpants. In his periphery he does not fail to notice the second pause of his hair drying while Jongin goes and grabs his towel haphazardly hung on his study chair.The knob of their bathroom door is still broken, so he merely pushes the door and keeps it shut with a stool against it.

In the bathroom, the baby scent is much stronger.

-

“Jongin.”

Very groggily, Jongin opens his eyes to the sight of Mickey Mouse staring back at him. Kyungsoo has already dressed for morning class.

“Don’t you have morning class?” He hears Kyungsoo ask.

Jongin groans, turning to the other side and gets comfortable again. “Skip…” Is what he mumbles. A laughter bubbles from behind him. "Call..." He makes a gesture of calling to his ear, hoping Kyungsoo would understand and he does.

“Yeah, call you if I need anything. Okay then, bye.” He calls, before the door closes shut. Jongin reluctantly opens his eyes to the wall before him, and decides to just get up. He is not immediately headed for the bathroom to wash up and shower, and instead merely sits against the wall with which the bed faces, letting out a deep breath through the nose. His hair is awfully messy, curtaining part of his vision, but he still sees it crystal clear; Kyungsoo’s side of the room, his bed, well made, the coastal themed bed sheets tucked underneath the underside of the mattress like in the military dorm, and a harp seal and a dolphin plushies resting on the pillow, the latter smaller than the former. Neat as ever. Nothing has changed.

Jongin finally gets up and instead of going to the class, he hits the gym.

-

When he feels the signature touch on one of his silver earrings on his right lobe, he does not even flinch. Looking up at the newcomer, Jongin is greeted with a bright smile.

“Is the snake one new?” Kyungsoo asks, chirpy, referring to Jongin’s earring. “I’ve never seen you wore it before.”

The library is rather full for a regular class day, and with the discussion zone full, it can only mean the semi-silent and silent zones are completely filled out. Kyungsoo must have arrived in the library looking for a seat, and having failed, went to Jongin instead.

Jongin subconsciously goes to touch the said earring, feeling the ridges and the curves accentuating the accessory. “I’ve bought it since I first got pierced, but never actually wore it until now.”

“It’s really cool.” Kyungsoo compliments, looking a little starry-eyed at this point. “Like a character from a video game."

Jongin brushes it off with a chuckle, ignoring the stars in Kyungsoo's eyes, and the subtle whiff of baby lotion at the close proximity. "Are you going to lunch? I'll come with you."

"Ah, no I just had lunch with Baekhyun just now. But I can keep you company?" He sounds a little hopeful. Jongin smiles, standing up from his seat and ruffles Kyungsoo's soft hair.

"It's fine. I'll be on the move now so you can have this seat," Jongin packs his stuff, not noticing Kyungsoo's shoulders drooping as the taller male walks away.

-

"Dude, didn't you just come this morning?"

"I could say the same thing to you, Chanyeol," Jongin hangs his drawstring bag on one of the treadmill's arm, and starts jogging, just to warm up enough so he can start his weight training.

"Well, it's coz' I don't have classes today."

Baekhyun at the side is brisk walking, looking at Jongin with a snicker. "Don't you know Jongin always skips class for gym?"

Jongin doesn't bother facing the shorter guy, only focusing on increasing his treadmill speed. "How'd you know that?"

"Kyungsoo told me."

For someone who mostly appears stoic on the outside, to very nearly stumble on the treadmill is a goofy sight, but before that could affect his entire bearing Jongin already regains his balance, but it did alarm Chanyeol who was bench pressing and almost lost his form to laugh like a constipated buffoon.

"Graceful," Baekhyun remarks sarcastically.

"Why did Kyungsoo tell you that?" Jongin asks calmly.

"He said how he agreed it's more productive to go and exercise at the gym instead of sitting in class for hours." Baekhyun explains, never stopping on his treadmill, and he suddenly snorts. "Said guy never exercises anyway. He's even slow in our diving classes. Does he even work out in the room, Jongin?"

Jongin stops jogging so he can move to the weights. "He doesn't." _He spends more time in the bathroom for god knows what._

"Well, honestly even if Kyungsoo hadn't told me that, we always see you in the gym anyways. What're you gonna do all bulked up like that? You don't even have a girlfriend to impress. Ah, I guess it's for your swimming stamina..."

Chanyeol finally puts down the weight, and sits up. "Huh? What happened to that one chick I saw you with? Like... a month ago?"

"Exactly. A _month_ ago." Jongin rolls his eyes. "Obviously we broke up."

"Why?"

"Said I was too unaffectionate."

"Oh. Touché." Baekhyun responds, unsurprised.

Jongin remembers his past lovers very vaguely, like blurred scenes in his memory. He guesses the word 'lovers' do not quite fit it; none of the relationships lasted more than a month at most, and most of the times he was dumped for not showing enough interest in his partner.

_"Do you not like me anymore or something?" A girl he dated once asked._

_Jongin, unaware of the sudden rift, asked back. "Why?"_

_"It's just that, you always pay more attention to that friend of yours. I don't feel like I'm your girlfriend sometimes."_

"They're jealous of Kyungsoo, right?" Baekhyun's voice interrupts his memory.

Jongin does not answer.

"Why don't you try dating him?"

"Our relationship is not like that," He puts the weight down and brushes his hands off. "And I don't swing that way."

-

Jongin takes a bottle of protein drink and tucks it underneath his armpit while he tries to reach Kyungsoo through the phone. Once it goes through, he asks "Hey, I'm at the conve store. Need anything?"

_"Ah, I think I'm good."_

"You sure? No food? I think your side of the pantry already looks half empty."

_"...Maybe some strawberry jam and some wholewheat bread?"_

Jongin gets to the fruit jam section and grabs a jar of strawberry jam. "Gotchu. Anything else?" He walks back to the bread section to find Kyungsoo's usual brand that he knows he likes.

_"Just those for now. Thanks, Jongin."_

"Aight, see ya," Jongin pockets his phone and brings the items to check out. "Also, give me one of that. With the menthol one, yeah." He instructs while the cashier boy slides the glass door of the display case open to grab Jongin's preferred cigarette brand. Jongin even picks up some chocolate bars he knows Kyungsoo would like.

"Would that be all?" The cashier kid asks unenthusiastically, scanning the barcodes of the items along. Jongin hands him a cash card and walks back to the men's residence hall with the bag in his hand.

He manages to smoke a cigarette on the way back and it finishes just in time before he steps inside the room.

The smell of tobacco from him mingles with the scent of the fragrant baby lotion in the air. Jongin somehow likes this contrast, but he knows Kyungsoo can't stand it when he smokes.

-

In the middle of changing his earring, Jongin notices he has an audience through the reflection in the mirror. He smiles.

“You really like looking at my piercings, don't you?”

Kyungsoo flusters at being caught staring, head whipping back to the online textbook open on his laptop, before he gives up the cover. _That's cute._ “It's coz' they're pretty.”

"Hey, why don't you get pierced too?" Jongin suggests. "I have these starfish stud earrings that you can have since you like aquatic animals."

"Oh no, they look painful."

“It’s not so bad.” Jongin tries to sound encouraging. “It’s easy to do it yourself.”

“Wait, you self-pierce!?” Kyungsoo yelps, and for some reason he is covering his earlobes with the tips of his fingers, looking absolutely scandalized. “Doesn’t that hurt… I never knew you self-pierce…”

“Piercing itself is a painful process, though… But the lobe should be less painful than getting a helix piercing,” Jongin approaches him and slightly crouches so he is at eye level with his roommate, his hand removing Kyungsoo’s which was guarding his earlobe. He then proceeds to check on the lobe, feeling for any depression, but all he feels is warmth, and he later realizes that the tip of the ear has reddened.

Is that... because of him?

He cautiously sneaks a look at Kyungsoo’s face, and it has turned from curious to downright flustered. Jongin tries to ignore that. “There’s no old piercing hole. So you’ve really never done it before.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo bites on his lower lip, looking downcast. “I’m not sure about wanting one now…”

Jongin stares at him some, before proceeding to ruffle his roommate’s hair. “Let me know if you change your mind, then. I can help.”

-

Never fall for a straight man. Ever.

Which is what Kyungsoo has lived by ever since he found out in middle school he was interested in the same gender more than the opposite. But does Kyungsoo abide by it? Not really. He's had numerous crushes who are as straight as a pole, though that could merely be explained by superficial attraction. Falling for straight men would ultimately, _only_ result in heartbreaks.

So why, exactly, is he _still_ falling for this particular Straight Man? Why would he subject to this torture knowing there are plenty of other Gay Men out there of which several had asked him out and of which were his type?

"Must be a pain to be you," Baekhyun singlehandedly describes how it is like to be Kyungsoo, right before he mouths an entire rice cake.

Kyungsoo pokes at his own food lazily, not really having the appetite. "Tell me about it."

Baekhyun swallows before he starts again. "Hey, I've got a friend- well, not really a friend, he's a senior who's interested in you. You remember Seonho? The guy who helped you out at the orientation? He wants your number."

"Sure," Kyungsoo replies unenthusiastically.

"You..." Baekhyun regards him with amusement. "You really say yes to every guy who asks you out, huh."

Kyungsoo pouts, spooning himself a piece of the rice cake. "Only if they're attractive too."

"Oh so you turn down ugly guys. Damn." Baekhyun washes his food down with a glass of iced tea. "So what are your standards?"

"Do- Do I need to tell you?" Flushing up to his ears, Kyungsoo looks down at his half eaten lunch.

"Hunks like Jongin?"

Kyungsoo hides his warm face in his hands. "Oh my god, Baekhyun."

"Too bad this Seonho guy isn't much of a hunk. But he's nice, though. Looks reliable--" Kyungsoo cuts him off by shoving a rice cake in Baekhyun's mouth.

"Can we stop talking about men?"

Baekhyun obediently chews on the forced fed piece of rice cake. "Men that are not Jongin? Got it."

"What about me?"

A newcomer voice startles the both of them and most importantly Kyungsoo who feels like his blood all but drained because of all people to stop by their table at that point in time it has to be Jongin. They both fall silent.

"I thought I heard my name... but anyways," He turns to Kyungsoo then, resting his veiny forearms on the tabletop. He looks so good in the black muscle tee, his perfume invading Kyungsoo's nostrils. "Kyungsoo, can I have your keys? I forgot to bring mine, and I need to fetch my swimming gear for later."

"Yeah. Sure." Kyungsoo's responses come out forced, partially relieved that Jongin easily brushed that off but also immensely self-aware at the moment. He fishes out his keys from the pocket of his backpack and hands it to Jongin.

"Thanks, you're a great help. I'll buy you something nice later," Jongin ruffles Kyungsoo's hair and then waves goodbye at them and leaves the cafeteria.

"'Thanks, you're a great help.'" Baekhyun parrots as soon as the man in question leaves, placing a hand on Kyungsoo's crown to imitate what Jongin did earlier. "'I'll buy you something nice later'? Are you guys in a sugar relationship or something?"

Kyungsoo removes the hand on his head, pouting. "That's how he usually treats me."

"Isn't it nice, though? Getting his attention?"

He wouldn't say he hated it. If Kyungsoo were to be frank, he likes it a lot. But this just falls into the many other reasons why falling for Jongin is a Bad Idea. "Well, would you like it if your crush treats you like a charity case?"

Baekhyun purses his lips, looking analytical. "I wouldn't be so harsh as to call that 'treating you like a charity case'. If he's genuine, then doesn't that mean he just really cares for you?"

Frustrated at this ongoing topic being centered in their conversation, Kyungsoo messes with his own hair until it turns unruly, uncaring about how he may appear in the eyes of others. He guesses he really did went too far into saying that he's just being treated like a charity case. Jongin genuinely cares about him? That's a nice thought... The shift of attitude in Jongin now compared to their high school years is something to be pondered upon, too.

"I mean, you're hella cute so I understand why tops would go out of their way to take care of you, given the chance."

"What?" Kyungsoo did not completely catch what Baekhyun said.

"Nothing. Hey, let's go get ice cream later before our diving practice."

Kyungsoo says yes to ice cream, if only to avoid going back to his room.

-

As Kyungsoo gets rid of his diving gear, he lets out a loud sigh.

"Your hand signals were all over the place." Baekhyun criticizes without menace. "You're too distracted, Kyungsoo."

"I know," Kyungsoo squeezes out some water from his hair before getting the towel handed by Baekhyun, thanking him for it.

"You're never going to see turtles like this, Kyungsoo," Baekhyun says, but then takes back his words when he sees Kyungsoo is about to cry, panicking. "Wait, I was joking."

"That was so mean," Kyungsoo pouts. "Pulling the turtles card on me."

Their session is over and now the swimming pool is occupied by the swimming team for their scheduled practice. He heard they have an upcoming tournament at university level this summer. He quietly watches them practise, especially those at the men's side of the pool.

"Jongin really is an all rounder, isn't he?" Baekhyun jests, unimpressed. "The world really is unfair."

Kyungsoo unknowingly flushes, rather proud of his own roommate. Other men envy him because not only is Jongin excellent academically (despite his poor attendance in classes) but he's also extremely athletic. The sports clubs were practically fighting over recruiting him but for some reason Jongin showed interest in only the swimming club. Their shared love for water might have dated back since their high school years... although Kyungsoo would say he prefers the animals more.

"Is he joining any competition, Kyungsoo?"

"Oh, um, I think so. I haven't thought of asking..." Rather, Jongin does not usually talk much about how his days are with Kyungsoo. Often times, it is Kyungsoo who is asked about what he's up to, and Jongin listening attentively... it is similar to how a mother asking their child how did their day go after coming back from school. Their shared time in the room is not that scarce; they see each other right before bed, and right before Kyungsoo goes for his morning classes, but never in between.

"What the hell, he's so fast. What's up with that speed?"

Baekhyun's acclamation makes Kyungsoo perk up at the scene, watching the individual times search event and indeed Jongin is a few feet ahead than the rest, his strokes cutting the water like blades, effortlessly beautiful. At the ending point, he resurfaces from the water, and his wet piercings glint under the spotlights. The people around him seem impressed, while the coach announces his time.

"He should go for the Olympics or something," Baekhyun remarks.

Kyungsoo never really knows if Jongin would want to go that far. He also does not know why said man is walking towards him right after coming out of the pool with all his wet glory ignoring the coach's reprimands for him to come back because apparently he found Kyungsoo more interesting than going back for practice.

"Hey, wait here. I'm gonna return your keys," Jongin informs before disappearing to the change rooms, and Kyungsoo has not yet recovered from witnessing his glisteningly wet six packs up close even though he sees them every day in their room.

"Insubordinate little bitch..." Baekhyun lets out a low scoff. "Who does he think he is?"

Kyungsoo remains quiet at the side, ignoring the looks some students are giving him because Jongin pretty much abandons practice to attend to him. When Jongin returns, he obediently holds out both palms to accept the keys, and off Jongin goes to the pool again.

After a fit of sneezing, Baekhyun decides they should go change.

-

Kyungsoo has a bowl of dry cereal at the side as he types away on his laptop, stealing a bite or two when he gets stressed. With his airpods plugged in his ears, he fails to notice his roommate has returned.

"Coral reefs, huh?" Jongin who perches himself right beside Kyungsoo almost makes the latter jump in his chair. "Your course has got some interesting stuffs there."

"You surprised me." Kyungsoo pants, huffing, his cheeks reddening at the proximity. He forgot he left the door unlocked for Jongin to return in case he has gone to sleep already.

"Have you had dinner?" Jongin backs away and starts stripping, looking for his sleepwear in his closet.

"Yeah, already. With Baekhyun." Kyungsoo has to gather back his attention in order to finish or at least make a significant progress with his essay, but in the midst of writing he is reminded of his thoughts back at the pool. "Are you joining the tournament this season?" He asks, curious.

Jongin has put on his sleepwear for the night, which is pretty much just another basic tee and some sweatpants, having showered back at the pool change rooms after practice. "I'm considering. I'm already joining a lot of college swim meets."

Kyungsoo tilts his head, questioning. "Why? Or like, why not?"

"It depends on where you'll go."

At that, it has Kyungsoo frowning. "You should just go regardless of where I go. I'm sure your team would be happy with you going. You could even make the nationals."

This probably garners suspicion in the taller man, for he walks up to Kyungsoo again and proceeds to rest his arms on Kyungsoo's desk. "Why do you want me to go so much?"

Kyungsoo stiffens at the proximity, avoiding looking directly at his god awful attractive roommate. "Coz' you're talented. In swimming, I mean."

"It doesn't really matter much to me. It's just another sports I tend to be good at," Jongin says which has Kyungsoo snorting at the comment. "What."

"I mean... you just flattered yourself."

-

Kyungsoo's head has been in the clouds these days.

Well, not to say it already _isn't_ in the past. He's never a bright person, although today the universe decided to show that to the entire class when the lecturer called out for him to answer a question based on his last week's class, to which he would have failed if not for Baekhyun beside him saving his ass by typing it out on his word document with a font size 40.

He sits back down with a sigh, muttering a 'bless you' at his friend who simply waves it off with an OK hand gesture. As soon as the lecturer leaves, he is offered mint candies, and thinking it is from Baekhyun, he takes it, until he realizes the giver is standing right across of him, whilst Baekhyun remains seated beside him.

The man smiles, but it turns into a nervous chuckle. "Hi, Kyungsoo."

"Oh, Seonho," Baekhyun exclaims, stealing the mint candies from him. "Did you not have class just now?"

"It ended early," This Seonho guy answers, before he turns nervous in front of Kyungsoo. "So um, I'm not sure if you remember me?"

Kyungsoo smiles innocently, truly cannot recall.

"I'm Seonho. We met at the orientation day. Remember?"

Oh, he's the guy Baekhyun talked about the other day. "Y-Yeah. Hi." _A pushover_, Kyungsoo decides after scanning this guy up and down, from the way he talks all the way down to his attitude. _Not my type after all._

Baekhyun beside him merely snorts.

On the way to the cafeteria, Baekhyun calls him out for it. "You were totally not into him."

"How did you know?"

"Your eyes weren't sparkling."

"My eyes do _not_ sparkle."

It is only when they are in the queue when Kyungsoo realizes he forgot to bring the most essential item, as he goes through the content of his own backpack. "Baekhyun, I think I have to head back to my room."

"Huh? Why?"

"I forgot my wallet," Kyungsoo shouldn't feel so upset but he is, and now he has to go all the way back to his room because his cash card is there. He tells Baekhyun he will be quick and that he should not have to wait for him if he's hungry, and then he power walks back to his residence hall.

On the way back, just as he is about to enter the building, there is a girl waiting outside, sitting at the bench with a phone in her grip. She looks familiar, but Kyungsoo pretends he doesn't know her.

It does not work because the girl apparently recognizes him, and her gaze looks almost annoyed, as if irked at having to approach Kyungsoo in the first place. "Hey, you're Jongin's roommate, right?"

Kyungsoo blinks at her. Even in his own viewpoint, he agrees that this girl is a looker - her eyes cat-like and her face small. She has long wavy black hair that reaches her waist, and her cleavage is showing through her low neck sweater. Most of Jongin's ex girlfriends seem to be busty. "Yeah, I am."

"Can you please tell him to come out and see me? He won't answer my calls." She looks distressed, and Kyungsoo has no reason to say no, although he thinks Jongin is not the type to ignore calls, at least not his.

Walking along the hallway, Kyungsoo looks at the time on his watch. At this kind of time, Jongin should already be back from the gym, or class if he attends it, and should probably be headed to lunch. He should not be in his room, Kyungsoo assumes.

To his surprise, Jongin is in the room.

"Hey. What's wrong?" The taller man asks, just out from the shower.

Kyungsoo sort of stills at the entrance, before shaking it off and enters the room. "I forgot my wallet." He waltzes in and immediately checks his desk. It's there, and he feels a little stupid for leaving it there.

"You could've just called me. I could help bring it to you, you know," Jongin tells him as he dries his hair. Kyungsoo is painfully aware of it, and he wonders if this part of their relationship has an expiry date.

"Um, there's a girl who wants to see you outside. She said you didn't answer her calls?"

Jongin raises an eyebrow at that, going to check his phone. "Oh, it's dead." He promptly reaches for the charger, plugging it to his phone. "Thanks, Kyungsoo. I'll see her in a minute."

Feeling the familiar warm touch on his head, Kyungsoo can only pretend it doesn't affect him as much as it does. He tightens his grip on his wallet before fleeing from there.

Kyungsoo does not know what he expected. Did he expect his roommate to look a little more pissed at the fact that his ex girlfriend is still trying to get back with him? Because it did look like that, unless this is just one of the times his ex comes to him to retrieve their clothes or things alike from him. Thinking about how Jongin could have had kept his lovers' belongings puts a damper to his mood.

Instead of going out of the building through the entrance, Kyungsoo uses another route. How Jongin deals with the girl is not part of his business, just like how Jongin's past relationships should not be of his concern.

That night in the bathroom, as he slowly unbuttons his shirt, letting it hang over his shoulders without taking it off, he stares at his reflection with renewed resentment that he thought he had put down.

The mirror reflects the pale skin of his neck, collarbones and down to the part of his exposed narrow shoulders, and his small chest with dusty pink nipples. Looking at his own chest reminds him of the busty girl just now wanting to see Jongin. Kyungsoo glides his own hands over his chest, wishing there was more flesh there, and maybe, maybe then would he come close to being Jongin's type. He already has the soft edges that would be typically and characteristically feminine; the frames of his eyes large and slightly drooping at the lateral ends, the plane of his nose soft, the subtle depression of his cupid bow, and then there are his full, naturally pink lips. But too bad, he was not born a girl.

-

Kyungsoo sneaks a glance at Jongin who is busy typing away his assignment, while the former himself is munching on some crackers while playing a movie on Netflix. Jongin is not wearing his earphones, but Kyungsoo would still feel bad if he's being a nuisance.

He barely pays attention to the movie, and when Jongin stops typing to stretch his arms and neck, Kyungsoo does not even pause the movie. "New girlfriend?"

Jongin pauses amidst stretching, turning his chair to look at his roommate. "The girl just now? That was an ex."

"Oh," Is the only thing Kyungsoo could offer. He faintly remembers how the girl looked at him with apparent disdain.

"Why? Did she bother you?"

"Huh? Oh no, not at all," Kyungsoo shakes his head. "I was just wondering. You seem to have a type." The last part comes out by accident, to which Kyungsoo realizes too late.

"Type?" Jongin questions, and Kyungsoo might have mildly panicked a little.

"Just, you know," Kyungsoo tries to appear nonchalant as he uses his own hand to make a cupping gesture at his own chest, but it comes out awkward. "Girls with a big rack."

He might have expected Jongin to blush, with their conversation centering on such topic, but what he receives instead is a somewhat dry response. "Oh, yeah. I guess they're hot."

Kyungsoo may or may not have been disappointed at the response and behaviour elicited by his roommate, but in the first place, Kyungsoo was the one who brought this upon himself by bringing it up. He begins to sulk by returning his attention to the movie quietly, loudly crunching on the crackers.

"What about you?"

Kyungsoo does not expect Jongin to attempt at continuing the conversation, so he looks over his shoulder at him. "Me?"

"Are you dating any guy?"

Kyungsoo bites at his lower lip. "Not currently." _Because I've been setting you as my standard, you idiot._

"Oh... Well, if they're being assholes about it, let me know."

_Why? So you can become my knight in shining armour and make me fall harder for you?_ "Sure." Kyungsoo laughs it off and returns to his movie. This crush on Jongin has to be put to an end one of these days, for he does not stand a chance.

It is not uncommon for Jongin to stand in and intervene when Kyungsoo's relationships go awry and the other party acted out of standard. Kyungsoo has had his own number of stalkers for that matter, and once even involved the police, but that was a story for another time.

In the shower that night, Kyungsoo thinks about a lot of things, mostly about his friendship with Jongin. He made the very mistake of falling for his own best friend, and the worst case scenario would be if Jongin found out about it. It absolutely can_not_ be known. Well, except for Baekhyun because that guy seems to catch on almost everything.

Closing the lid of the toilet and leaning against the sink, he rests his right foot on top of the closed lid, squeezing a fat amount of lotion on his bare thighs and works on evening them out to allow for absorption.

Cutting off all ties with Jongin sounds tempting, but he is a little iffy of being seen as ungrateful, considering how Jongin did a lot for him. He wonders if he could just get over the crush with time, while still maintaining friends with him.

-

A squeak and a dull thump followed by a couple of hollow bottles falling down the tiled floor from the bathroom alerts Jongin who has been quietly writing his assignment in the room.

The chair scrapes against the floor as Jongin rises and marches to the bathroom door. With a tentative knock, he calls out. "Kyungsoo, is everything okay in there?"

_"I'm fine!"_

Jongin hesitates. "You sure? It sounded serious..."

_"..."_

"Kyungsoo?" Jongin calls again, his hand now on the door ready to push it forward due to the still broken knob. "You're not answering. I'm coming in to help--"

_"Wait--!"_

He registers the many fragrances mixed in the steamy air first before he registers his half naked- _almost_ naked roommate if not for the the towel haphazardly covering his front. Kyungsoo is flushed red down to his chest - which he tries to cover with his crossed arms pointlessly by the way - and Jongin cannot tell if that is from the hot shower just now or actual embarrassment.

Another thing is that, Kyungsoo is on the floor.

"Did you fall?" Jongin strides inside without much thought, his only instinct is to get Kyungsoo the hell out of there from all this mess, but at the hint of slipperiness, he stops, inspecting the floor with his feet. _Why is it so fucking slippery..._

"Jongin, please leave," Kyungsoo chuckles nervously, shrinking in on himself, as if trying to reveal as less skin as possible to the incomer, _what's the big deal with that anyway?_ "It was just a slip..."

Jongin does not look very convinced. "Okay. Stand up, then."

Baffled by the sudden demand, Kyungsoo frowns. "I'm _naked."_

"You have that towel around you. Stand up, then."

Kyungsoo keeps that frown on his face, while his free hand that is not holding the towel together starts to find leverage from the sink, and tries to stand up... unsuccessfully.

"See? You're hurt, and there's no way you're not gonna get any more injury with all this mess on the floor. Just stay put while I go and get you," Jongin asserts. "Somehow." With all the lotion spill contributing to the slipperiness of the floor, Jongin himself has to be careful not to slip, especially if he plans on carrying Kyungsoo.

Without much thought, he takes off his shirt and tosses it on the floor, and he steps on the material, dragging it with his foot in an attempt to wipe the floor enough to clear a path for him to reach Kyungsoo. This act, of course, receives a gasp from the male on the floor.

"Y- You ruined your shirt..."

Jongin ignores that as he charges towards Kyungsoo and lifts him up bridal style, his strength training makes the act feel nearly effortless. The yelp he earns and the sudden arms thrown around his neck renders Kyungsoo unguarded of the fact that his towel has completely slipped from his form and is just hanging loosely around his nether regions.

Jongin carefully places Kyungsoo on the edge of his bed, and immediately kneels down to inspect the ankles. When Kyungsoo moans out in pain when his right ankle is placed with pressure, Jongin sighs. "Careless, aren't you... You sprained it."

Kyungsoo frowns, trying to move his ankle but wincing at the discomfort. "Is it bad? I've never had a sprained ankle before..."

"Depends. We need to take you to the clinic to check if any bone is broken."

"That's too much. I'll just rest here quietly."

"I'm not risking that," Jongin goes for Kyungsoo's closet and gets the nearest available sweater, tossing it at Kyungsoo for him to wear. He gets himself a flannel and then pockets his car keys, before going to Kyungsoo again to lift him up.

"W-wait, I also need my pants," Kyungsoo informs, his cheeks pinking, while his knees are closed together and only then that Jongin realizes that Kyungsoo is still naked.

"Ah," Jongin returns to Kyungsoo's closet and pulls out one of the drawers. "Briefs?"

"Yes, please..."

Jongin takes one of them, and finally pulls out a pair of sweatpants for Kyungsoo to wear. "Do you need help putting them on too?" He isn't actually teasing, but seeing it flusters his roommate might actually does something to him.

"I can do it myself," Kyungsoo snatches them. Allowing him at least some privacy, Jongin turns back and fiddles with his phone."Is the clinic even open at this time?"

"It should be. Otherwise, I'm taking you to the hospital." Jongin's tone does not allow room for further argument. Since Kyungsoo flatly refuses to be carried neither bridal style nor getting a piggyback, he settles with being supported by Jongin at his side.

-

"I don't like this."

The doctor advised him not to put pressure on the affected area until it has completely healed, and Kyungsoo was given a crutch. He is also told to withhold from attending his diving classes, which unsurprisingly makes him upset.

Jongin unlocks the door to their room and lets Kyungsoo enter first, supported by the crutch previously bought after being advised by the doctor. Fortunately, no bone is broken - just a tore ligament.

"Well, you don't have a choice, do you now?"

The first thing Jongin does after locking back the door, is to head for the bathroom.

Kyungsoo upon noticing the noises from the bathroom, calls out. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not letting you apply all those skin stuffs in the bathroom anymore." Jongin comes out, his hands full of the bottles of products, and stands them on Kyungsoo's study desk, despite it being unideal. "From now on, do it in the room itself."

"I- I'm not doing that."

"You say that now but if you end up spraining your other ankle, you'll wind up with two crutches instead of just one. Do you want that to happen?"

"You're always treating me like a child." For the first time ever, Kyungsoo snaps at him. "I can take care of myself."

The cold tone finally makes Jongin turn to his roommate, who looks rather upset. Jongin has not thought the conversation would take such a turn.

"I'm treating you like a child," Jongin repeats, trying to make sense of this. "You said."

Kyungsoo does not look at him.

"Then stop acting like one." Jongin leaves the room without much word.

-

They very rarely ever get into an argument.

The first time they did was over movie tickets, that Kyungsoo bought for the two of them but Jongin could not take time off from his part time job. The two tickets were wasted, for Kyungsoo himself did not go. The fight did not last long as Jongin later made up for it by bringing Kyungsoo to the aquarium... Jongin presses the side of his forehead, sighing. Maybe Jongin _does_ treat him like a child.

If he was being frank to himself, he did not mean to snap at his roommate like that. It was only in the heat of the moment. He was just taking measures to ensure Kyungsoo did not further aggravate his currently bad ankle, despite getting stubborn retorts from him.

"Look who's here," A voice calls out from behind him. It's Baekhyun, with a bottle of gatorade in his hand. "Taking a break from their roommate."

"What did your roommate do?" Jongin takes a long drag out of his cigarette, and blows the carcinogenic smoke into the air. "Jongdae, was it?"

"Brought a girl," Baekhyun joins him. When Jongin offers his pack, Baekhyun turns down with a grimace. "Not getting those dark gums, thanks."

"Only chronic smokers get them."

"Like you?" Baekhyun shoots back, and Jongin rolls his eyes.

"I'm already cutting down to three sticks a day."

"In a non-smoker's viewpoint, I have no idea if that's a good thing or not." Baekhyun stretches his arms above his head. "What got you here anyway? You usually study in your room at this hour."

Jongin doesn't answer and instead quietly steals a drag.

Baekhyun gasps dramatically. "Oh my god. Kyungsoo brought a man?"

"That's not it," Jongin feels his jaw twitch at the assumption. "He doesn't bring anyone to our room." And Jongin respects that act by not bringing any of his dates over to his room, too.

"He once showed me a picture of his ex on his phone. He's so weird. Usually people would get rid of their ex's photos on their phone, but then he told me he still keeps in contact with this guy. As friends. Funny guy." He later on adds that Kyungsoo did not really show him the photo, but rather he caught a glimpse of it and quizzed him for it.

Jongin knows about that guy. Kyungsoo did not share much details about him with Jongin, and they dated for less than one week before he knew Kyungsoo broke up with him because he 'didn't like him as much as he thought he did', and they stay as friends. Jongin did not really like the guy much anyway and he felt like an ass for feeling relieved when they broke up, but to be fair he did not like a lot of Kyungsoo's ex lovers.

"Say," Baekhyun begins. "How come you've never told me you've been friends with Kyungsoo since high school?”

Jongin narrows his eyes at his nosy friend, exhaling a puff of smoke in Baekhyun's face just to annoy him. "I didn't see the point of telling you it. How did you know about that?"

“I saw a picture of you two in his phone,” Baekhyun waves off the smoke with his hand, scrunching his nose. He later downs some of his gatorade. “In your high school graduation robes. Man how you looked like a total juvie... Anyway, you two really chose to attend this uni together?”

Jongin stubs out his finished cigarette on the bridge railing before heading over to a trashbin to be rid of it. "Us getting accepted here was just a coincidence."

_"And_ rooming together."

"Coincidence."

Baekhyun looks unimpressed. "I don't buy it."

"Why did Kyungsoo show you that photo anyway?"

Baekhyun stares at him a little too long, calculating. "Why do you always sound so snappy when it comes to Kyungsoo? Last time I checked, you two aren't dating. Not in secret anyway, coz' I would know." He reveals that last part cheekily, not that Jongin appreciates it.

"How the hell is this your business anyway?"

Baekhyun snorts. "...An overprotective mom friend, or just possessive over a prospective lover?"

Jongin is starting to feel a little irritated, his fingers now playing with his lobe piercing out of habit. "I told you it's not like that between us."

"Because you're straight? So you don't mind him dating anyone else?"

"'Course I don't. Why would either of us mind? We're just close friends," Jongin kicks at a stray twig, both his hands deep in his pockets. "You sound like you're interested in him."

"What if I am?" Baekhyun grins over the rim of his bottle. "Ya' gonna stop me?"

Feeling his eyebrow twitch, Jongin gets up from his seat and knocks against Baekhyun's shoulder purposefully as he starts to walk off from the bridge. "That's not my business."

Baekhyun, still loitering at the bridge, rests his arms on the railing and eyes Jongin's back lazily. "They're so fucking dumb."

-

When Jongin comes back, he expects the room to be dark since it should be Kyungsoo's bedtime by now but that isn't the case apparently.

He shuts the door without care for noise, for his roommate is only studying. Kyungsoo obviously notices his return despite the airpods plugged in his ears, but he makes no effort in acknowledging it with a smile or a 'welcome back' as he always used to. Jongin sees the sprained ankle rested on a small pillow on the floor, and the crutch sits just beside the study desk, within reach.

"Have you iced it?" His question receives no response, so Jongin walks over to him and removes one of the airpods, earning an offended stare up at him. "I said, have you iced it?"

"Y-Yes." Kyungsoo answers reluctantly before giving out a palm. "Please give it back."

Jongin has a little reservation for the lack of affection and joy in Kyungsoo's usual attitude around him but then again he did scold his roommate for turning down help just because it felt like Jongin was treating him 'like a child'. He returns the right airpod regardless, and goes to take a shower.

In the bathroom, since after snapping at Kyungsoo, he completely forgot about the mess in there but it is no longer there. The floor is clean from any lotion traces, and it's not slippery anymore. Jongin rests a hand on the wall, his head hanging, and lets out a big sigh. "He shouldn't even be moving around..." He mutters sourly.

At least the body lotion bottles are not in there. Kyungsoo listened to him for that.

-

Jongin feels bad for doing exactly what he's doing but he has not been caught yet and in such a dark room lit by only the lights from the hallway that sneaks through the crack of the door, the chance of getting caught seems thin but most importantly he just can't... stop.

If he was sleepy before, the pureness accompanying the scent of the baby lotion that is wafting in the air succeeded in bringing him out of the sleepiness, and now the problem is that he can't get back to sleep, which leads to the _staring._

At his _roommate._ Applying _lotion._ All over his _bare thighs_.

He is no teenager that reacts sensitively to the sight of bare skin; _he_ himself has seen plenty of bare skin, breasts, asses, girls who threw themselves at him for quick fucks. Bare thighs are nothing.

Jongin continues staring. Kyungsoo hardly shows skin, not even to Jongin. Even the glimpse of skin at the bathroom earlier was quickly dismissed for the sole reason of getting Kyungsoo safely out of there. Kyungsoo hardly shows skin...

Is that why he always puts on these body lotions in the bathroom...? And now he is doing it in the dark while Jongin is presumed to be asleep. Well, too bad for Kyungsoo because Jongin is far from asleep now thanks to the smell and that Kyungsoo would probably cry in shame if he knew his roommate was awake.

_If I pretend to stir, would it startle him...?_ A thought crosses his tired mind, wanting to tease his roommate just for the fun of it, but Kyungsoo seems to be sensitive about his skin showing and the air between them is already sort of heavy. It has never gotten this heavy before...

In the end, Jongin stares until Kyungsoo finishes with his routine, and putting on his sleeping pants and Jongin does not mean to notice the material catching at the curve of his ass but he does and he is fucking glad he did not wake up to the sight of Kyungsoo applying lotion on his ass instead but this thought shifts to that of whether Kyungsoo does apply it there... and Jongin is fucking stupid for getting semi hard at that.

-

Jongin did not, in fact, deal with his semi erection last night.

It went away after some time, or so he thought when he lifted his sheets to be greeted with a morning wood. Groaning and shifting to lie on his side instead, he cracks an eye open to see the other side of the room. Kyungsoo is seen putting on his socks, pulling the plain grey socks up his ankles, and Jongin's dazed eyes seem to have absorbed it all in slow motion. Skin... skin... and _oh hey_, Kyungsoo has dainty ankles.

"How's your ankle?" He asks in a husky voice, laced with sleep. Kyungsoo turns to look at him.

"It's as painful as yesterday, I think..." He answers, and Jongin just wants a good morning smile from him.

"Do you need help going to class?"

"No, I'll manage. I'll use the crutch." He replies curtly, reaching for his phone beside his pillow to pocket it.

Jongin wonders if he should apologize, but he isn't very presentable at the moment and he doesn't want his apology to be taken as half-assed, not when Kyungsoo seems to be in a rush himself. _To quickly get out of here...? Ah damn..._

"Be careful," That is the only thing Jongin says. "Call me if you need anything."

To his surprise, Kyungsoo doesn't say anything to that as he usually does and only gnaws at his lower lip, looking a little troubled.

_Ah_, Jongin arrives to an understanding._ It's these kinds of words_. Be that as it may, he still wishes Kyungsoo would get in contact with him should he face any trouble. He hopes that does not change, even if Kyungsoo seems reluctant to acknowledge this offer now.

Kyungsoo mutters a quiet 'have a good day' and starts awkwardly limping away with the help of his crutch to the door, still getting used to the aid so it seems. When it finally shuts, Jongin sits up and takes the sheets off of his groin, glaring intensely at the hard-on.

-

Jerking off to the thought of his best friend was not something Jongin thought he would spend his Thursday morning with. He does not feel particularly guilty for it, although he wishes Kyungsoo would not constantly be the subject of his right hand in action. It is becoming frequent these days.

Kyungsoo has long since been out of the closet, and has dated a handful of men since high school. It was not Jongin's business who Kyungsoo dates and dated, but he did wonder if the shorter male ever felt the same desire to date him as he did the others. In the time he has been friends with him, Kyungsoo's relationships only lasted at the most three months, and even when they did, they were rocky.

Jongin in contrary, identifies himself as a straight man. At least he thinks he is. More often than not, his partners called quits on their relationships due to the same reason. Not that Jongin minds much, for he himself was never that invested in any of his exes.

That day, he does not go to gym in the morning, opting to attend classes instead. When lunchtime arrives, he texts Kyungsoo if he wants to eat together, not exactly expecting a swift response - and he is right.

He wastes no time and goes to where he believes Kyungsoo's last class should be. While everyone is headed towards the cafeteria and the exit of the building in general, Jongin finds himself going against the flow of the human traffic, whilst at the same time searching if Kyungsoo could be among them. Being with a crutch should render him easy to spot, but he is seemingly not among them.

"Have you seen Kyungsoo?" He stops what he believes to be Kyungsoo's classmate since he looks familiar.

"Uh, probably still in the lecture hall?"

Jongin thanks him and is immediately on his way. He is not sure if his best friend might need an assistance and if his coursemates provided that help. He checks the two main lecture theatre halls on that floor but they are either empty or the people who are left behind are not the one he is currently in pursuit of.

He tries texting him again, genuinely worried if Kyungsoo might have fallen somewhere and worsened his injury or worst yet, fainted somewhere where no one sees him, although he doubts Kyungsoo would be that careless.

Ah, but he _is_ the epitome of careless, indeed...

Not getting a reply this time either, Jongin goes all the way back to the main hallway that leads to the exit, but halts at the mildest of thuds he stumbles upon as he passes by the public washroom. He glances at the men's washroom entrance curiously.

Habitually, he touches at his own earring, contemplating. He steps inside not long after.

If the fallen crutch on the ground below is not signal enough that Kyungsoo is inside here, the familiar voice resounding a "what are you doing?" not directed at him is more than enough for Jongin to march towards the last stall and forces himself to knock on the door patiently even though his fists are twitching to just instantly destroy the damn door like how he accidentally destroyed the latch of his and Kyungsoo's bathroom door some weeks ago because he thought the door was jammed. 

"Are you in there, Kyungsoo?" Jongin makes his presence known. "Your crutch's outside and I don't think you should be walking around without it."

The door opens swiftly and reveals an unfamiliar guy, appearing very much pissed but _oh_ he would not know how more pissed Jongin is right now at the sight of Kyungsoo at the back who refuses to acknowledge his presence.

"Man, who the hell are you? Get off our dicks, fuck, there's a reason the door was locked."

"I don't care who you make out with but maybe keep your crutch close with you and answer my texts," Jongin ignores him in opt of placing the crutch inside the stall before proceeding to the exit.

-

Kyungsoo seats himself at one of the plastic chairs, watching his coursemates discuss with each other in the pool, while some of the swimmers have started arriving and warming up, and some sneaking into the pool as they refuse to wait until the diving classes are actually over.

Kyungsoo sighs, looking down at his own ankle. The doctor advised him not to partake in any strenuous activities that involve his legs, and he had to opt out of his diving classes for a while.

"Don't look so down," Baekhyun approaches him, leaving wet trails as he has just exited the pool. "You know our classes are slow anyway."

"I just wanna get in the water." Kyungsoo mumbles.

"You can soak your legs if you want to," Baekhyun suggests, stealing a chair from the side and places it next to Kyungsoo's. "I could help look out for you."

Kyungsoo finds that tempting.

-

Jongin wraps up his warm up exercises with a bit of skipping without rope, getting his heart rate up so the oxygen will continuously and efficiently be supplied to his muscles for better speed. He then snatches his swimming goggles from the stand. He hears water splashes from the pool, and turns to see it.

A twitch is felt in his jaw muscles at the sight of Baekhyun piggybacking his roommate, who looks nearly frightful as he wraps his arms tighter around Baekhyun. There is a crutch lying near the pool.

Jongin grips his goggles, walking over towards the other end of the pool, towards the two men fooling around. His increased heart rate may or may not have contributed to that surge of energy, for usually he would not pay much mind about such petty thing, but in his defense, it is not petty.

"D- Don't drop me!"

"Hey, what do you take me for?" Baekhyun laughs, twirling around in the pool, and Jongin gets more annoyed when Kyungsoo himself looks like he enjoys it.

He stands on the edge, glaring at the two men. "You're not supposed to be in the water."

His voice interrupts whatever fun the men in the pool was having, looking up at Jongin, and he does not miss the way Kyungsoo quickly looks away, loosening his arms around Baekhyun to simply place his hands on the shoulders.

"Chill it, man, we were just having fun. There's 5 minutes left before it's your turn." Baekhyun says.

_Cheeky of him to say that knowing how Kyungsoo's ankle is_. "You heard the doctor," Jongin ignores Baekhyun and directs his words at his own roommate. "Are you trying to make your ankle worse?"

"Hey, I said cool it." There is tension in Baekhyun's voice now, agitated. Jongin is not having any of that, especially when Kyungsoo seems to prefer being quiet behind Baekhyun's back while his friend does the talking. "I'm here to look out for him if that wasn't obvious enough."

"Get out of the water." Jongin demands, looking at Kyungsoo whose shirt is now thoroughly soaked. Even his hair is mostly drenched and dripping with water by now. His eyes follow down their forms and through the ripples around them, noticing that while Baekhyun is still in his diving suit, Kyungsoo on the other hand is just in a pair of jeans and a shirt. "You're not even in an appropriate gear. Pool rules."

"Well aren't you a killjoy." Baekhyun gripes, breaking through the ripples and turning away from the side of where Jongin is standing. Kyungsoo is quiet on his back.

_They're dawdling_. "Did you not hear me?"

Baekhyun clicks his tongue and it is audibly loud and irritating. "Fuck, you're annoying. Fine, we're getting out of the water now." He brings Kyungsoo to the edge and Kyungsoo slowly drops his footing, resting on one foot while he bends his knee with which his ankle was sprained. Jongin has been quietly watching them, not realizing how haughty he currently appears with his arms crossed on his chest.

"Thank god our coach's not here yet, huh?" Wonshik, his swimming teammate, arrives at his side with his own goggles in his grip, following Jongin's gaze. "Jeans in the pool... they could have been chewed out alive. Aren't they part of the scuba diving students?"

"Yeah," Jongin agrees, feeling a little relieved that the difficult Baekhyun listened to him. Being in jeans in the pool could add more weight to you not just in the water but also when trying to get out of it--

"Kyungsoo!"

\--and just as he thought he was relieved, he suddenly felt the stress in his muscles again but this time it is due to the resistance of the water from the sharp dive he took and he remains underwater all throughout his journey towards where Kyungsoo accidentally slipped and fell back into the pool, which should not have happened in the first place had the fool Baekhyun lifted the injured man first before he got out himself, or rather, should they not have been in the water.

Jongin sees Kyungsoo struggling to support himself on his good foot, and as soon as Jongin is close enough he promptly and firmly grips Kyungsoo's waist while thrusting his own feet from the tiled ground of the pool to forcefully propel them both to the surface.

"Kyungsoo...!" Baekhyun shouts from the edge, holding a hand out to which Kyungsoo quickly takes. Jongin helps him by bringing his hips all the way up until they were sitting on the ground.

Jongin finally catches his breath, panting from the sudden burst of adrenaline and having to hold that breath underwater. He watches Baekhyun assist an equally out of breath Kyungsoo up with much effort, water trickling down from their wet garments, especially from the denim.

He is just glad Kyungsoo got out alright. Soon, he himself gets out of the pool, not noticing the unceremonious crowd they drew from the commotion.

There is incredulity written all over Wonshik's face as Jongin returns to him. "Fucker," Wonshik breathes out. "You were never that fast with us."

-

"I would apologize but in the end you did get rescued by your personal Aquaman."

Kyungsoo blushes profusely, ridding himself of the wet jeans sticking to his legs. "Please tell me you didn't drop me on purpose."

"I may be sly but I'm not _that_ sly."

Biting his lower lip with frustration, he nearly pierces through it from the force. He _hates_ the fact that _that_ had to happen in front of public eyes, but the public attention is not worth being frustrated over, as much as it was _Jongin's_ of all people.

"Hey." Jongin shows up in the changing rooms and Kyungsoo all but grabs his towel conveniently folded by his side and lays it out and drapes it across his bare thighs.

"Gotta give that to 'ya," Baekhyun greets, not looking guilty in the slightest at not doing his job of being on the lookout for Kyungsoo. "I didn't think he'd lose his footing."

Jongin marches over to them, picking up the soaked jeans and raising it a slight. "This shit gets heavy in the water. You as prospective scuba divers should already know that." He scolds, and Kyungsoo feels like it's being directed more at him than at Baekhyun. Well, it _was_ his own fault for not changing first before stepping into the water, and the fact that he was not in perfect shape to be in the water in the very first place.

"How's your ankle?" He asks at the same time he applies pressure to it, making Kyungsoo wince and jerk away. "Well that's one more week for you with the crutch."

"That's not your call," Kyungsoo grumbles, looking away.

"Then I expect you to go and see the doctor without me having to tell you to." Jongin's tone leaves no room for objection, and Kyungsoo too does not further resist. Just like that, Jongin leaves the room, and it appears that he came just to check on Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo grips at the towel on his lap. _Look at him being the adult one here... yet again_. He used to love the attention, the care, but he craves for something entirely different, and knowing he will never be able to get it is not what breaks him - it is that he knows no way around it. That's what breaks him.

"That's... some tension between you guys there, which is rare. What happened?" Baekhyun questions once Jongin is out of sight and hearing range. "You were quiet when he chided us back in the pool too. Are you two in a fight?"

Kyungsoo would rather it be a fight so he could make a clean breakoff between them both. This strain does not seem like it will end anytime soon.

-

_'That's not your call'_ Kyungsoo had said. He is obviously still mad at Jongin. He did not even thank Jongin for saving him.

Not wanting to rely on someone is natural when you refuse to trouble them, but he has known Kyungsoo for a while and he can safely say that is not the case, that is, Kyungsoo does not mind troubling Jongin if he really needs it, and Jongin knows that Kyungsoo himself knows the taller man does not mind being troubled. Then, what is the deal with this attitude he's getting right now? Is it only because he called him a child the other night? Speaking of which, he still needs to apologize for that.

Being instructed to get into the pool so they can check his backstroke timing, Jongin heeds to it, feeling the cold water surround his form.

He closes in on the wall and grabs the grips on the start block, waiting for his cue, but also distractedly trying to come up with a solution about his roommate. His approach back in the men's room was a little too straightforward and brash, which might have spooked Kyungsoo out hence forcing out that dogged response.

"Get ready," The coach says, and Jongin pulls forward so his head is closer to his arms, his body muscles preparing for the takeoff. And then, the whistle blows.

His body remains airborne for a long time, allowing for lesser drag in the water. A good start. As soon as he secures himself back in the surface and flutter kicks forward and away from the starting point, his mind pans to Kyungsoo again.

In no time, he reaches the wall of the other side of the pool, marking his turning point, and he makes an effortless flip to continue towards his starting wall.

"Your strokes were good, but your time's slower than your personal best," His coach informs him, looking disappointed. "Also, don't think I didn't notice you smelling like cigarettes just now." Jongin did not need to hear that from him for he knows that better than anyone else. He has just been distracted by the thought of how to fix this unexpected mess with Kyungsoo.

-

"Want some?" Baekhyun offers Kyungsoo some pepero sticks, to which Kyungsoo obliges and takes one. He makes tiny bites, staring at a point in space, dazed despite a show being put on Baekhyun's laptop.

Baekhyun takes a seat on the other side of his bed. Kyungsoo does not bother returning to his shared room with Jongin, and he has been ignoring texts and calls from Jongin who has been asking where he is.

"You might wanna at least let him know where you are," Baekhyun suggests, chucking his chin at Kyungsoo's phone that has been vibrating incessantly. "He seems like he would call the security and turn this building upside down just to know you're not kidnapped or something."

"Screw him," Kyungsoo steals another pepero stick huffily. "He's not my dad."

"Kyungsoo," Baekhyun begins right after sipping on his mocha milk. "Get a new boyfriend and get over him."

"You think I'm not trying?"

"Exactly," His friend cocks an eyebrow at him. "You turned down Seonho so quick without giving it a shot. You're not trying."

"Seonho--"

"Is not your type, I get it," Baekhyun snickers. "He lacks a swimmer build."

Kyungsoo flushes, moving to hide his face in his knees. "They don't have to have a swimmer build..."

"Don't think I don't notice you staring at the male swimmers every time we're done with our diving classes. You're not very subtle, especially when _that guy's_ there."

"Maybe you should shut up," An utterly embarrassed Kyungsoo shoves Baekhyun off by the shoulder although Baekhyun does not move an inch from it. "You stare at them too."

"I stare with envy, not appreciation. There's a vast difference."

Kyungsoo does not seem like he believes that, giving Baekhyun the stink eye playfully.

"I get that you've known Jongin and have been close since high school but, how did you start romantically liking him?"

Pouting, Kyungsoo rests his chin on his knees. "I don't remember. I didn't fall for him yet when we were in high school, though." _It must have started by the time we started rooming together here, then._ Kyungsoo cannot remember the exact point that made him go 'oh I've fallen for him' but he thinks it has a lot to do with how Jongin is so kind and attentive to him.

"Say, do you think it's possible...?" Baekhyun suddenly asks.

"Possible for what?"

"You've seen him dating girls. He even told you he likes girls, right? Do you really think Jongin would suddenly start becoming interested in men?"

It feels like a knife that was already there in his chest, being pushed and twisted further, especially when hearing it from other people. "Why are you saying that? I- I'm not expecting anything from him."

"Give up on him." Baekhyun says indifferently, taking sips from his water tumbler. "Your crush on him is pointless. You know that more than anyone else."

Kyungsoo does not know why his own best friend is rubbing it in, saying this instead of comforting him like he usually does. "Baekhyun--"

"I'm tired of hearing you gush about him."

That pricks a little, Kyungsoo cannot lie. Baekhyun is acting strange with him today, saying borderline mean and sensitive things to him. He looks down on his lap, feeling extremely down. "I- I see. I won't talk about him again--"

He does not get to finish his sentence as he suddenly finds himself with his back on the floor, and Baekhyun caging him on top. The man on top of him has a rather cold glare, which is rare since Baekhyun is humorous, caring, but never cold.

"Give up on him," Baekhyun says calmly.

Kyungsoo does not know what to say, and the first thing coming out of his mouth is an awkward chuckle. "Stop fooling around..." He trails off, eyeing Baekhyun warily. It feels like an eternity until there is an unannounced poke at his side causing him to curl his torso and unceremoniously hits Baekhyun's nose with his own head.

"Ow, fuck," Baekhyun exclaims, covering his nose as he pulls away from the other man on the floor who has his own hand on his forehead from the impact. "That hurts."

"Ugh, you don't get to say that when you're the one who poked at my side like that..." Kyungsoo recovers from the impact and then finally has it in him to worry about his friend. "But are you okay?"

He regards Baekhyun worryingly, especially since the man has been still for some time, and when he finally recovers, he surprises Kyungoo by breaking out in a borderline manic laughter.

"They don't sparkle." Says Baekhyun in between his bouts of laughter.

"What?"

"You know how some people sometimes think their crush likes them back? What is it called again, erotomania? If there's an antonym for that, that would be you," Baekhyun stretches his arms above his head with a mild grunt, the act uncovering his nose which is now red and spotting some blood, and the sight has Kyungsoo gasping.

"I'm not gonna ask why you're way off the base but th- th- th- there's- there's b- blood," Kyungsoo feels his own blood drain ironically at the sight of the red liquid.

"Huh? Oh," Baekhyun touches at his own nostril and finding his own thumb pad staining red. "Kyungsoo, get me tissue-- you weak fool, it's just blood. Don't look at me like you just saw a dead body."

-

Kyungsoo returns to his room with a box of Pepero too big in his pocket, and his own free hand that is not handling the crutch covering his mouth and nose.

"Oh hey." Jongin greets him with a smile, as if he did not just corner Kyungsoo in the men's room and chided him for getting in the water earlier. "I'm getting takeout for din-- wait, are you okay? You look pale."

"I'm fine," Kyungsoo says tersely, scowling when Jongin still gets up from his study and insists on checking him. "I said I'm fine. Did you not remember what I said earlier?"

"About you not wanting to rely on me and yet insisted on getting into more trouble that could have been perfectly avoided? Yeah, 'course I remember that."

Kyungsoo is not sure how to feel about this change of attitude. He cannot even look the taller male in the eye for fear of blurting out things that should remain unsaid before him. "You think I'm being a brat."

"That's not really what I'm thinking right now." Jongin lets out a spent sigh as he goes to sit on his bed. "Look, can we talk?"

Jongin... wants to talk? "What about?"

At the inquiry, Jongin gestures at the two of them with his hand, but he does not look like he is mocking him although the very gesture or act could go there. "Clearly there has been some miscommunication somewhere, although I can't say for sure that I know what it is. Is there, I don't know, something you're hiding from me?"

"I'm not... hiding anything."

"Yeah, sure convinced me there." Jongin says sarcastically. He pats the space next to him, and no thanks Kyungsoo is not sitting there, alright. "I don't know, I mean it's been a while since we last talked, you know, heart to heart," He says this while making a quotation gesture. "And I thought we were fine that way, but obviously _you're_ not. If it's something I did, I wanna know so I can apologize properly."

Kyungsoo has a lot of thoughts right now, and it all converges into the very fact that this could have been avoided had he just acted normally like how he used to be before he started falling for him, but there is a disarray of physiological and emotional reactions towards everything Jongin does to him and there is only so much he can be in control of.

_"Do you really think Jongin would suddenly start becoming interested in men?"_ Baekhyun had said.

"There's nothing to talk about, really." Kyungsoo says with finality.

-

Sometimes Jongin wishes he could read minds. Particularly Kyungsoo's, but of course as much as it was realistically impossible, it was also a form of privacy invasion.

And privacy, Jongin gives. He gives Kyungsoo his own space if that is what he needs even if that means the stuffy air between them right now, although he wishes they could return back to normal as soon as possible because this has been a great bother to his athletic performances. It is not to a worrying extent of having to face a mental block, but nevertheless it is still an impedance. If it isn't about what he did wrong, then he could be trying to conjure up ways to make it up with Kyungsoo, yet the latter insisted that there was nothing wrong between them while simultaneously acting like there was. Needless to say Jongin is in a pinch.

What if Kyungsoo actually hates him?

Has Jongin been overbearing? Did Jongin accidentally overstep some boundaries?

"If you're not gonna give it all, might as well get out of the water now." His coach's voice interrupts his train of thoughts, and Jongin does not even protest as he takes off his swimming cap and goggles before landing his hands on the above ground and heaving himself up. "I can find plenty of other more willing swimmers and train them in your place."

Jongin decides to hit the gym instead, desperate for a good outlet for his frustrations. High intensity training does just that, and people wonder why he has a monstrous stamina and athleticism. Although his swimming today argues otherwise, due to his lack of focus.

"Dude you might wanna go easy on that lat pulldown machine... you're going too fast..." Chanyeol says with a ridiculously comical expression as he is wiping down his sweat with a towel after bench pressing. "Also you reeked of chlorine. I thought you don't workout right after swimming?"

Jongin doesn't answer him, and instead doing his lat pulldowns at a slower and steady pace. Chanyeol's interruption was an unexpected necessity to get him back in focus.

He goes back to his room immediately after gym, hoping to run into Kyungsoo there but not exactly surprised to find that he is not there. He pushes the door close and feels the soreness in his arm hitting but in a good way.

Removing his muscle tee, he then nudges the bathroom door open only to stop short at something dangling in the corner of his eye. It's the rusty latch, already having partially detached from the surface of the door. Damn door.

When he steps out of his residential hall, drizzling turns into a downpour.

Jongin has made several attempts at calling the management office but it never went through. It has been weeks since the attempts, and that broken lock of their bathroom door is not going to fix itself.

There is thankfully not a long line so he easily enters and waits for his turn, sitting on the couch. He takes out his half eaten banana from his drawstring bag, peeling its whole skin off and tosses the entire fruit into his mouth while looking around the place, only to almost choke at the sight of a crutch and its familiar owner.

Jongin quickly swallows the fruit and stands up, walking towards Kyungsoo who is seemingly arguing with the lady in charge.

"Why can't it be done?" Jongin hears him ask her.

"Kyungsoo?" Jongin calls for him, seeing the latter jerk in surprise and turn back with a displeased expression. "What are you doing here?"

Instead of Kyungsoo responding to him, the lady answers for him. "He wants to change rooms. I'm sorry but we're already in the middle of the semester and it can't be done unless you're experiencing some extenuating circumstances with your current room."

Jongin doesn't know what to say, and he can only stand there stumped at this new revelation of his roommate's plan. "You... wanna change rooms... That's how much you wanna avoid me now?"

"Oh so you're his roommate, is it? I suggest you two talk it out among yourselves because conflicts between roommates are common but we don't allow room change just because of that," The lady explains but neither of them are listening anymore.

_So this is what it has come to, huh?_

"She's right, Kyungsoo. Why don't we talk it out?" Jongin is surprised at himself for sounding this calm despite the violent waves in his heart right now because first of all Kyungsoo decided to change rooms without consulting with Jongin first aka his _roommate_ and two it is for the most trivial of reasons and third of all Kyungsoo is _not fucking looking at him._

"Thanks, Mrs. Lee. I'll take it from here," Jongin thanks the lady and grabs Kyungsoo's crutch with one hand while another slips around Kyungsoo's waist, supporting him as he walks them out of the office all the while the man in question keeps mum but when he finally decides to speak, it's--

"Let me go. I came with Baekhyun."

Jongin stares at Kyungsoo for a bit, then glances around at the mention of the guy, who actually has been behind them all the time.

"'Sup," Baekhyun casually greets, and the sight of him is now annoying ever since that night Jongin went out smoking outside the residence hall because this guys seems sly, like he has something up his sleeve and Jongin would like to think he's good at making conjectures and everything points to only one assumption which is... not good. Baekhyun is not good news.

Jongin glares at him. "Could you perhaps leave us, please?

"Well, we gotta hear it from him too, right?" Baekhyun suggests, looking coy, and Jongin does not appreciate that.

Jongin turns to Kyungsoo then, who looks painfully reluctant to vocalize his decision. "Is it really something you can't talk about with me?" He is still not looking up at him, and it is starting to bother Jongin. Senselessly he grabs Kyungsoo's forearm and tugs a slight. "Hey, I'm talking to y--" He is immediately shrugged off.

The whiff of lotion. Moist eyes and tilted glasses. Rosy tinted cheeks.

Quite a sight, really.

"Yes. I can't talk about it with you. So would you please stop bugging me about it?" For the first time in the life that he knows where Kyungsoo exists with him, Kyungsoo almost raises his voice at him. "I'm sleeping at Baekhyun's."

"Ah, well, about that, my roommate's bringing his girl over so I'm kinda tryna crash at someone else's too...?" Baekhyun says. _Just this night, I promise you can crash at mine tomorrow night_, Jongin hears him whisper to Kyungsoo, who does not look too pleased at the turn of events. Jongin cannot even call that a satisfactory victory.

"See you in our room later, I guess," Jongin bids a temporary goodbye for now, before going back into the management office. As he seats himself after being told he has to wait for his turn all over again, he thinks about just how personal is it that Kyungsoo cannot seem to share it with him, and they have known each other for over six years.

-

He has his back lying on the bed with an arm supporting behind his head while his free hand holding up his self written business law study notes, his eyes scanning the sections with a lazed and barely there focus, for part of his focus is panned towards the other man in the room, also on bed, hugging his harp seal stuffed toy close to his chest while frowning at his laptop screen.

Must be another written assignment, thought Jongin as his eyes very stealthily gauge the sight of Kyungsoo frustratingly biting the tail of his stuffed animal, potentially unaware of doing the very act itself. Jongin remembers buying that stuffed toy for him, while they were in high school. Kyungsoo liked it so much he decided to bring it to university.

"Do you need help with your essay?" Jongin asks, feigning reading his own notes. In his periphery, Kyungsoo stops and looks up at him.

"N- No, thanks. We're in different courses anyway."

"You used to get my help going through your writings."

"I'm trying to- to do it myself this time..."

Jongin does not press further on that matter, and instead sits up and places his notes down the sheets. "You don't seem comfortable being around me anymore. I wonder why." He tries to appear nonchalant saying this, getting up to go to the now fixed bathroom door and turning it open. "If it's to the point that you can't stand it, I guess changing rooms next semester wouldn't be such a bad idea. That must be what you thought of anyway, when you went to the management office today."

He really does not mean to push Kyungsoo to the corner like that, but if it could pressure him enough to open up to Jongin, Jongin would not mind sounding a little callous. He himself has had enough of playing the bigger person here if it is not amounting to results.

(But what exactly does it mean to be the bigger person?)

.

.

.

"I can tell you're avoiding me."

A voice prompted him to look up right after resurfacing from the water. Crouching at the ground side of the pool was Kyungsoo clad in his high school uniform and a stick ice cream in his hand. The bitten part allowed the view of the vanilla inside, with what seemed to be almond chocolate outer coating.

He has another one in his hand, still within its wrapping.

Jongin regarded him long enough for Kyungsoo to have to offer the unopened ice cream to him while licking a stripe from his own confection. "You should probably eat it before it melts."

"We should probably not be eating after all," Said Jongin, referring to the pool rules, but he still made his way to the boy anyway and hauled himself up to sit near the ladder.

"Only you're stupid enough to be in the pool at 7 a.m.."

"Not as stupid as someone who buys ice cream first thing in the morning."

"It was hogging up space in our fridge, and mom went to the wet market." Kyungsoo bravely bit into his ice cream, but not without a wince. "I had to finish them."

Jongin had removed the wrapping and now mimicked Kyungsoo - biting into the ice cream. His teeth weren't sensitive so he was fine. "Thanks." He raised his ice cream a slight, and Kyungsoo smiled in response.

"Was it because of the rumors?" Kyungsoo did not wait for them both to finish the ice cream before bringing up the topic again. "Do they bother you?"

Jongin swung his legs in the water, letting the part of the confection he had bitten to rest inside his mouth as it melted. "Do they not bother you?"

"I asked you first..." Kyungsoo sighed, finishing the last of his ice cream and baring the stick. He placed the stick in between his lips, playing with it. "But I'm not going to lie. They do. I mean, having to walk the hallways being branded as a guy who preys on straight men? Of course it bothers me."

Jongin's gaze was stuck at the water swirling around his legs.

"I can understand why it would bother you, too." Kyungsoo said before falling silent. It soon became overbearing to the boy because he stood up and said "Ah, as I thought, I shouldn't be here."

Jongin looked at how his ice cream melted and dripped into the pool, staining part of the clear water with a cloudy white.

"Sorry, Jongin. I was wrong to think we could be friends." A forced chuckle resounded. "I'm sorry the rumors bothered you. I promise they won't bother you anymore." Following and matching his words were the boy walking away from the pool, dumping the bare stick into a bin and grabbing his backpack from the bleachers.

There was an appalling half eaten ice cream on the ground, very close to the pool drains, and there were trails of water wetting the otherwise dryer parts of the ground.

And then there was a wet Jongin with a hand wrapping tight around Kyungsoo's wrist.

A simple sorry- not even a simple _sorry,_ Jongin thought, could make up for the guilt he felt, coiling tight within his chest. There were just never the right words, at least not something a seventeen-year-old Jongin could think of, to somehow make the other boy feel better. The initial sentiment that avoiding Kyungsoo until their relationship eventually faded out sounded like a good idea as a way to reduce the extent of the rumors, to lessen the impact on Kyungsoo who was taking the blow the most - but that was not what Kyungsoo himself wanted. He just wanted a friend out of Jongin.

"I'm... sorry." For all the time and consideration he had taken, that was the only thing that left his mouth.

Kyungsoo blinked once, and giggled. "I'm sorry, too."

Jongin felt his heart became lighter although he was confused why Kyungsoo was apol--

Kyungsoo smiled apologetically as he pointed to the pool keeper who just showed up looking thoroughly livid. "For possibly getting us detention."

.

.

.

Eighteen year old Kyungsoo was ready to give up his friendship with Jongin for the sake of lessening the burden of the rumours on Jongin. Was that what it meant to be the bigger person?

-Thought Jongin as he sees Kyungsoo limping his way to the bathroom with a towel in his hold, denying Jongin's assistance, and locking the door. Was that also Kyungsoo's way of trying to be... the bigger person?

"I'm going to bed first so I'll turn the lights off," Jongin informs from outside the closed door, receiving a curt and sullen 'okay', eyeing Kyungsoo's half of the room, and noting the crutch lying against the headboard.

-

Gently patting his cheeks to let the substance absorb into his skin, it marks the last step of Kyungsoo's facial skincare, and his hand naturally reaches out for a bigger bottle that would usually reside at the top shelf. Catching himself in the act, he blinks, feeling a little stupid, and lets out a huffing defeat. Force of habit, it would seem.

He puts on a pair of sweatpants first, and then a plain basic navy tee, before going out. The room is already dark as he expected, and he can see the back of Jongin lying on his side and facing the wall, his figure rising and falling steadily. At least he seems to have fallen asleep so Kyungsoo is spared from more awkward conversation and tense air. He feels himself grow lax and lets his guard down.

As he quietly steps out of the bathroom, he almost knocks down something long that was resting against the wall beside the bathroom door but his surprisingly fast reflex prevents it from falling and making noise that would potentially wake up his roommate. It turns out to be his own crutch. Kyungsoo does not remember putting it there.

He purses his lips, his eyes travelling to the sleeping man with hopeless frustration, like he has lost in a self-constructed battle with his own crush. He grips the crutch, more mad at himself for feeling warm and tingly from it all. It will be a harder crash landing for him if he keeps getting his hopes up like this.

-

What are certain things that will shake someone awake from their slumber?

To some, it may only need a slight pat on the shoulder. To others, it may require more than simply a pat on the shoulder or a loud voice. It might even take the ground quaking or the smell of smoke coming from a fire to wake a man.

But Jongin only needs the scent of a baby lotion to rouse from his sleep.

In the dim-lit room, he opens his eyes to the sight of the ceiling above, hearing the rustling of sheets from the other side of the room. There is this pressing need to turn over, and not even a minute passes until he does. To his luck, his little action fails to garner attention from his roommate, who is currently shaking and squeezing the bottle for the last of the substance. _Is he running out of lotion?_ His hazy mind wonders.

Jongin does not even bat an eyelash when the same bottle is forcefully flung towards the end of the bed, as if the thrower is immensely frustrated at having ran out of it. He simply watches, as Kyungsoo breathlessly and quietly sobs, as he pulls his bare legs together and plants his face into his knees. An emptied lotion bottle could not have put his otherwise lively roommate to such tantrum - although Jongin believes 'lively' is not the best way to describe his roommate the past few days, not around him at least. What flipped the switch, then?

_How small_, Jongin thinks, _how small_, the way Kyungsoo balls himself. Like it could help him from being seen by a threat or an outsider, like it could help him shelter his own dainty figure, like it could help him protect his own heart. How small.

No longer clouded with somnolence, an instinctive energy compels Jongin to get up from his own bed, dragging his feet to the other side of the room which has otherwise been off limits due to his roommate's strange behaviour around him lately. The incandescence of the full moon outside being the only source of light guides him to what seems like a protective body shelter Kyungsoo has made, but the image resolves when Jongin notices the quaking shoulders.

He seats himself on the edge of the bed, the very dip of his own weight bringing Kyungsoo out of his shelter, and the glowing moon reflects his cheek glossy with tears. There is a stumbling apology of how he's sorry for not noticing Jongin was awake, another apology for being the potential reason for having disturbed Jongin from his sleep, but apologies are not what Jongin seeks.

Perturbed by the sudden attention, Kyungsoo hastily pulls the sheets up to cover his bare, moisturized legs, and even panically look for his stuffed harp seal to hug to his chest as a comfort item. He did not need to hide his legs though, for Jongin was far more worried about other things, for instance-

"Am I the reason you're crying?"

Kyungsoo racks out more sobs, continues hiding his face in his now blanketed knees, muffling something about how Jongin is not supposed to see him like this, telling him that he should go back to sleep and promising that he'll be quieter.

Jongin cannot promise he can peacefully go back to sleep, not like this. Not when his friend of six years, who has never been seen as emotional over heartaches or past breakups, is currently racking sobs.

"I wouldn't be at peace with myself if I leave you like this." Jongin says, touching his ear piercing out of habit.

"Y- You said to change rooms," Kyungsoo stifles a hiccup, rubbing at his eye. "I thought you h- hated me."

"I only said that to scare you. And weren't you the one who went off and decided to change rooms in the first place? I thought _you_ got sick of _me."_ Jongin is silently glad Kyungsoo looks like he is opening up to him now.

Kyungsoo pauses - he_ actually pauses_, to give Jongin a long unfathomable look, before he breaks down again. "I- I could never get tired of you."

Jongin is flattered, but that's not the point. "Is that what got you upset? I promise not to bring up about room changes anymore on the condition you tell me what's really wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Kyungsoo cries out, looking very much wronged.

"That can't be true with you crying like the world's ending..."

"You're making this harder for me..."

"How am I making this harder for you?"

There is a reason why patience is Jongin's best attribute, and it has something to do with how Kyungsoo is stalled into thinking by taking deep breaths, but with how his roommate is not crying anymore, Jongin takes that as a good sign-

"Ah, I really can't say it... Jongin, please go back to sleep."

Patience. "Don't you think it's unfair for me to go back to sleep after being woken up by you and not getting the closure I need?"

"Closure you said... this is my own problem, stop playing the meddler." Kyungsoo unconsciously pouts, looking away.

"If it hadn't come to the point that you wanted to change rooms, I wouldn't be so worked up about it."

"You- You said you promised not to bring that up again!" There is a look of comical betrayal on Kyungsoo's face.

"I wouldn't if you told me what's wrong."

"You're being awfully pushy these days for the love of god please just go back to sleep--" Kyungsoo seems to have gotten that out articulately so Jongin believes he's fine but the articulation only lasts verbally because as soon as he starts to push Jongin off the bed and eventually having to lift himself up to exert more force Kyungsoo does the thing again where he slips due to his own erroneous footing, which brings Jongin to wonder if Kyungsoo really just has terrible coordination. Certainly Kyungsoo might not have been blessed with physical prowess.

Naturally, Jongin scoops him back up again. With grace. That Kyungsoo seems to lack - he might as well be a fawn.

"With how bad your coordination seems to be, I wouldn't be surprised if you did end up with two crutches," Says Jongin, laying a wide-eyed Kyungsoo down the mattress and pretends to ignore the way the smaller man stealthily pulls the sheets higher from where it slips off from his act just now. He will have to tell him about that someday. For now, he can't seem to move away, not with Kyungsoo under him, not when Kyungsoo looks so obviously starstruck... it leaves Jongin musing to himself that he has never seen him like this, so close, like he could taste stars he was really that close...It's always quite something, this sight of him.

And Jongin may or may not have taken a hint.

Belated to his grasp of consciousness was a hand reaching out, to innocently touch his barbell earring. Kyungsoo has always had a thing for his bodily accessories, and has never been good about hiding it.

This proximity is slowly getting dangerous, so Jongin shifts to get back to sitting which effectively and nonchalantly detaches the hand from his ear but that soon changes to a tug on his shirt. Jongin whips back at the man beneath him. "What's wro--"

"I like you," Kyungsoo speaks softly. "That is what's wrong."


	2. Part Two

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.

.

"What's the point of being good in sports if you lack sportsmanship?"

Kyungsoo heard an old gruff voice, stern, talking to one of the basketball regulars. He brought the front of his shirt to wipe at the sweat around his nose and cheeks, stealing a look at the other side of the court where it was being used for basketball practice. His P.E. class was almost over, and all he did was dawdling around in defense because he never really got the ball. No one passed it to him.

"I can't believe they're training right now," One of his classmates spoke to another, and Kyungsoo happened to pass by them. "It's like, almost our mid-terms."

"The guy playing the centre... Isn't that--"

"Yeah, it's him. Apparently he always makes more than half the shots for the team. Crazy good at it."

"Dude, are you not seeing the guy getting criticized for not working well with the rest of them? I've watched one of their games, he plays a totally solitary game."

"Then he chose the wrong sports."

Kyungsoo did not have that much of curiosity to inquire about it, but he did not need to for he turned his head just in time when a loud slam reverberated throughout the indoor basketball court, before it cascaded to softer and softer bounces, but still loudly resonating against the walls. He would have thought the sounds were enough to drown the other noises but that was not the case as the ball was too loud it made the others halt to see what the fuss was.

The guy who slammed the ball - he was tall, and skinny. His slouch was apparent, his obnoxiously blonde hair and gleaming silver piercings on his ears even more so. Kyungsoo wondered what would tick him off that much to the point of challenging a much elderly man that was seemingly his coach.

And he stomped off just like that, leaving the court which seemed like time had stilled for them to observe such a commotion.

Kyungsoo was not that intrigued.

-

"Hey, I said we'll be late--"

Kyungsoo kept insisting that he needed to attend classes, but the boy above him would not listen, and instead kept kissing his neck. Kyungsoo did not particularly enjoy the kisses.

"You like it right here anyway." The boy whispered against his neck. Kyungsoo did not resist.

The bell has long since rang, and the washroom was empty, void of any other students who at this time would be in class. The boy did not even bother closing much less locking the door of the stall that they were in, rendering Kyungsoo able to see the line of sinks and urinals outside.

"I kinda wanna go to class, though," Kyungsoo said as he felt a hand snake up his back and underneath the shirt.

"You don't really mean that," The boy laughed.

_I do, though_. Kyungsoo was not strong enough to go against this boy who was nearly twice bigger than him. He almost missed the sound of the main door opening and closing, and then there was a boy with the obnoxiously blonde hair doing his business at one of the urinals, not that Kyungsoo intended to peek. It just so happened to be on his range of vision.

The boy above him was enjoying his time groping Kyungsoo's behind and not one bit did Kyungsoo find any pleasure from that. He instead had been eyeing the blondie quietly as he went up to the sinks to wash his hands after using the urinals. Kyungsoo found himself wide-eyed when the blondie made eye contact with him through the reflection in the mirror.

He expected many things; and that scene from the basketball court would have made him thought the gaze would be vicious, but it was anything but. In fact, it was knowing.

Kyungsoo vaguely wondered what the blondie thought of him, as he was being ravaged by some classmate who could not keep his dick to himself.

The blondie did not stay long there, and went about his business like any other guy. Kyungsoo could not shake off the surprise, maybe partly due to the dismissive attitude the blondie had towards them fooling around in the stall, but partly also due to how his eyes did not bear the usual disgust some of his fellow schoolmates bore whenever they crossed paths with Kyungsoo.

In the end, Kyungsoo pushed the boy off of him and fixed his clothes before making his way to class.

Kyungsoo was openly gay, and nearly everyone at school was aware of this. He did not know how the rumors spread, but by the time it did and he came to school with people gossiping about him, he found that he was not particularly bothered by it. In fact, it filtered some of the jocks who later made a move on him.

While he garnered that kind of attention, this blondie on the other hand had his own number of rumours himself.

The blondie, or he thought his name was something like Jongun or Jungil or something, was notorious for skipping classes and still got by with excellent grades. Nobody actually knew who his parents were, or whether he had any at all. His rebellious character had the teachers going through mind games to make the boy listen to them, like this time when Kyungsoo was jogging his way to make it to the class although the bell has rang and then spotting his Math teacher and the blondie outside of the class. Kyungsoo did not mean to overhear their exchange.

"You're a smart kid, but what's so hard about dyeing your hair back to black? And those things on your ears..." The old man scolded. "Your friends have no issue with this. I don't understand why you never adhere to the school conduct. I'm confused."

Blondie did not look bothered at being called out. "Is my blonde hair distracting you from teaching that much?"

The old man looked baffled at being talked back, and Kyungsoo withheld the urge to laugh as he passed by them and bowed to the teacher out of respect. "Sorry, sir. I had an upset stomach earlier."

"Oh, Kyungsoo. Never mind, get inside," The old man dismissed with a weird looking grin. Kyungsoo had always known the old man was homophobic. Rumors did not just fly by among students, and in such a small school close to the sea, everyone including the staffs were meant to know one another on the surface.

As soon as Kyungsoo got inside, it seemed that the scolding did not continue for the old man as well as Jongin came in.

"Woah, did he get new piercings or something?"

"Pretty brazen of him."

"Bet the old man wasn't able to get through that thick blonde head of his, either."

Talk. Talk. Talk. His classmates were talking unstoppably about him. Kyungsoo wondered how this blonde kid dealt with the countless rumors about him.

"He shouldn't even be here in this class."

"Oh damn, I forgot he's a year younger than all of us."

"Did his dirty rich parents pay their way for that to happen, too?"

"Stupid, it's because he's too smart compared to his same age peers he had to skip a grade."

"So he thinks he's so smart he could get away with that attitude or something?"

Kyungsoo rested his chin on his hand, staring at the old man's writing on the blackboard, while his classmates talked away.

"The hell am I in this class for? First, we've got a fag and then there's this cocky rebel. I should be in the neighboring class with my fucking girlfriend, damn it."

"Shut the hell up. Work on your grades first before you dream, dumbass."

Kyungsoo wondered if his classmates knew their whispering was not really what you would call a whisper.

"Hey," Kyungsoo felt his deskmate elbow him. "Don't listen to them."

Kyungsoo merely grinned at Bomi who looked concerned for him. "You know I don't mind them." He later asked Bomi if they actually had Biology homework yesterday that he could have forgotten, to which his deskmate simply poked her tongue out at him knowing he very well forgot. Eventually Bomi lent him her exercise book.

During lunchtime, Kyungsoo struggled to find his cash card in his wallet that he planned to use to get his canned peach tea from the vending machine. _I swore I put it in here..._

He was still searching his wallet, and then his pockets, too preoccupied he failed to notice a guy was already behind him.

"Is this yours?"

Kyungsoo looked up, and saw that piece of card in the guy's hands, instantly recognizing it as his. "Oh, yeah, thanks--" Elevating his gaze to finally see the rescuer of his card he was surprised when it turned out to be the blondie guy. "Thanks." He said without trying his names. The boy before him was a lot taller than he was.

And the guy... stayed there standing. For some reason. And Kyungsoo could only smile awkwardly because _why isn't he leaving?_

"Go ahead, then." The blondie said, and he had a nice voice which might have distracted Kyungsoo for a little and it took Kyungsoo several seconds to realize that the blondie was actually queueing for his turn for the vending machine too.

Kyungsoo quickly turned and made his pick after scanning the card. He moved aside and opened his can to get a sip of that nice refreshing taste of peach mixed with the salient bitter taste of tea down his throat.

It seemed that the blondie had also made his pick, opening it right then and there too. It was a can of latte, was what Kyungsoo noticed first, and then it was the several rings on the helix of the left ear, but what really caught his attention was how it ended with a short chain and a leaf motif at the termination.

"Your piercings look really cool." Kyungsoo found himself blurting out his thoughts. "Do they mean anything?"

The taller boy detached the can of coffee from his lips, turning to look at Kyungsoo, but his gaze was unreadable. "Thanks. They have no special meaning. They're not like tattooes."

Kyungsoo tilted his head, wondering. "So you have tattooes, too?"

"I don't."

"Say," Kyungsoo began after another sip of his peach tea and after learning that this guy might as well finish the rest of his canned latte here. "You saw me back at the men's room."

It took a while for the boy to utter back a: "That I did."

"Were you disgusted?"

Blondie eyed him longer than usual. "Why would I? It's not my business what your sexual preferences are."

"Are you like me too?"

"No. I like girls..."

"Oh, a straightie, then." Kyungsoo chuckled. "I'm going to class now." He was just about to get up when he felt a tug at the strap of his backpack that prevented him from going further. When he looked back, it was Blondie who stopped him.

"I said I'm not disgusted by it."

Kyungsoo blinked, and then proceeded to laugh afterwards. "And I heard it the first time." He said and then took the stairs down to return to his class.

He rested his lips on the lid of his can, unknowingly smiling in spite of himself, because Blondie is a funny guy.

-

In high school, Jongin found out that the reason Kyungsoo was infamously known was not solely due to the fact that he was out of the closet.

Despite being in the same class, he hardly had any interactions with the said boy, although that could be attributed to how they were not seated close together. But Kyungsoo sat at one of the front seats and Jongin could see him well from where he was.

And it was safe to say the boy did not have many friends, save for the girl sitting beside him.

Jongin was not immune to gossips. He knew people talked about him. In the same way, he also knew people talked about Kyungsoo.

Apparently, Kyungsoo dated a brute who was in college, but was dumped by the same guy for another girl. The relationship lasted no more than two weeks, and it was the college brute who publicly exposed them. They called the relationship off on a 'very bad note' - so Jongin heard. Kyungsoo became the center of the rumors for being just that - the 'gay experiment' boy.

Certainly there could have been exaggerated or simply unfounded elements mixed into the actual story. Though without a doubt, the poor boy got caught up in these unwanted rumours, and Jongin could only think about how terrible of a high school experience it must be for him.

Not that it wasn't the same for himself, but Jongin thought what he had was pretty mild compared to the other boy.

"Do you know people talk about you?" Kyungsoo asked him one day, both of them somehow ending up at the more secluded, cliched part of the building; the unused stairs. A can of peach tea in Kyungsoo's hand, and a can of latte in Jongin's.

"I do," Jongin says, tilting the can to get the last drop of his latte on his tongue. "People talk about us."

-

"Huh... I thought you were in the basketball team..." The voice echoed against the walls of the indoor pool.

"I am." Jongin said, forcing his wet hair up and away from his eyes. He turned to see the visitor and it turned out to be one of his classmates. "I just like the water too."

"You like the water?" Kyungsoo looked at him in awe. "I like it too." He blurted out.

"You swim?"

"Eh, not really..."

Jongin stared at him some, and then continued swimming casually. After some time, he submerged again and regarded Kyungsoo with curiosity. "Why aren't you swimming then? You've been sitting there for some time."

"Huh? No, I'm fine here. In fact, I like it here, yeah."

"Your toes will prune up."

"My toes are fine."

Jongin gave up, and dipped into the water to swim towards the shorter boy. Once he arrived there, he almost gave Kyungsoo a shock by rising from the water. "Get in."

"I said I'm fine here..."

"It's not that you don't swim," Jongin finally decided. "It's that you can't, isn't it?"

Kyungsoo very much pouted after that, and Jongin could tell he was embarrassed too at being figured out.

"Why'd you say you liked the water then?" Jongin went to rest his elbows at the tiled edge of the pool, close to where Kyungsoo was sitting. Kyungsoo looked like he was contemplating whether or not to tell him.

"As a kid, I used to watch those animal documentary shows, and the ocean animals amazed me," Kyungsoo's lips were still pouting as he explained himself. "The dolphins were swimming like they were the royals of the ocean, cheeky but graceful, and it kinda moved me. I became a kid who grew up liking the aquatic animals. Lame things like that."

Jongin looked down at the water around him, cupping some of it and letting it drip through the spaces between his fingers. "Nothing lame about that." It's cute that Kyungsoo knew what he liked, while Jongin on the other hand kept going back and forth between a lot of other things to find where his heart was but never really seeing the fruit of it. On one hand, it did give Jongin the extra edge of being capable in a lot of things, although a lot of credit probably goes to his gifted athleticism.

"I come here sometimes to watch people swim. I like your swimming style."

Blinking, Jongin looked up. Kyungsoo merely chuckled.

"Well, that came out creepier than I thought. I swear I didn't intend it like that."

Jongin could kind of understand. He himself found it stress relieving to drown out most of the sounds from the outer world, the drier world, and being surrounded by water helped him with just that. He was not very much into competitive swimming despite people trying to recruit him when he was just casually swimming there.

"Why don't you learn swimming then?"

"God, no, I don't think I can stay afloat."

"That's a common fear for people who can't swim. I promise you it's not as hard as you think it is." Jongin said, moving through the water so that he was in front of Kyungsoo. "You're not afraid to stand in here, right?"

Kyungsoo pouted, and Jongin was starting to think that was a habit of his. "Of course I can at least do that."

"Go on, then. The water level's not high," Jongin waited, holding his two hands palm up, a stance that should appear reassuring to the other party. He watched the boy gulp and then cautiously stretched his legs out so his feet could reach the tiles, and he reached and reached until his whole body plopped into the water, creating a large ripple around him. Jongin maintained his position. "Good?"

"Y-Yeah," Kyungsoo said apprehensively, his eyes wary as they scanned the water around him. Jongin thought the other boy was worrying too much. They're not at the sea where they should be worrying about incoming waves. "You know what, I'm going up now--"

Jongin stopped him with a firm grip on his forearm. "You can count on me. I'm not taking my eyes off you."

"I don't need swimming skills to survive this world I'm completely fine on dry land and that's where I'll stay--"

"Kyungsoo, breathe." Jongin instructed. He did not expect the boy to be underway of a panic attack, but he was glad seeing how the latter followed his instruction, appearing a lot calmer now.

Jongin thought his evening would be a quiet downtime for himself, but he found that spending it by teaching his classmate how to swim was not so bad either.

"There are nothing cuter in the aquatic world than harp seal pups," Kyungsoo announced one day, after learning how to swim with a kickboard. His teacher was none other than Jongin himself.

"They're seals..." Jongin claimed, unimpressed. He found himself humoring the boy more often than not.

"I mean, other than the snowy furred pups, they're nothing special. They're not romantic like penguins, who mate for a lifetime. They're promiscuous, the males fight for dominance and the winning males court females by performing underwater tricks. Pretty basic." Kyungsoo inserted his opinion. "Just the pups are cute."

That weekend, while running an errand to the supermarket, there was a festival happening around the small town. There rarely ever were festive activities happening there. Jongin took a walk down the festive road anyway, if only to stall time before going home.

There were foods, and there were games. The prizes were attractive, depending on the difficulty and the target audience. One of the prizes, was a stuffed harp seal.

.

.

.

Kyungsoo finds himself concentrating better in class the next morning. He answers quizzes well instead of the usual stammering, much to his best friend Baekhyun's surprise especially. He types down notes on his laptop instead of spacing out. Productivity deity is on his side today.

He is not using the crutch anymore for most of the pain has subsided, rendering his hand free of having to handle it all the time. He feels at the top of his game.

"Ah, afternoon's lab is cancelled," Baekhyun says after reading the latest text sent in the class group chat. They are both having lunch. "Got plans?"

Kyungsoo blows on his beef noodles before chomping it down, making Baekhyun wait for him to finish chewing and swallowing before answering. "The library."

"Haven't finished your essay, have you?" Baekhyun deduces, sipping on his iced latte. Baekhyun must have finished his, considering how relaxed he appears. Kyungsoo knows Baekhyun is being considerate by not offering help for him. Assisting in your fellow coursemate's essays could unintentionally or intentionally contribute to plagiarism after all, which is why the usual case for Kyungsoo would be to have one-who-shall-not-be-named's help to go through his essays, just for structure and flow.

"Hey, since you're not using the crutch anymore, will you be joining the scuba diving classes with us from today?"

"Sure. I just need to look out a bit," Kyungsoo says. Ah, all the inconveniences from using the crutch are now out of sight. He can't imagine having to use even two, at that... The thing gets caught by the door too easily, and if he wrongly estimated the distance between the point where the rubber tip rests to the next point it would land, or when it slips, he would abruptly give himself a mini heart attack too. "I think I'll up my offering today."

"Oh. I didn't know you were Buddhist."

"No. My parents are catholic. They used to make me go to church before..." Kyungsoo trails off, staring at his food. "I think I'm agnostic now."

"Cool." Baekhyun does not seem interested in the topic. "I think you can join us for that field trip too. You're joining, right?"

Kyungsoo places his spoon down. "What field trip?"

Baekhyun gives him an unimpressed stare. "So you didn't concentrate after all. In last week's lab, I mean."

"What field trip?" Kyungsoo repeats himself.

"We have a scientific diving assignment at Busan this weekend, remember? And then make a report out of it."

"This weekend?"

"This weekend. Sunday."

Kyungsoo sighs in relief. It's not Saturday.

"Why, you got plans on Saturday?"

"Wha- Did I say it out loud?"

"No. I just guessed."

Baekhyun is eerily perceptive sometimes. "Y- Yeah. Sort of."

"With Jongin?"

"God, you're scary." Baekhyun merely grins in response and they lapse into eating in silence again - well, as silent as it could be until someone stops by their table.

Kyungsoo does not even look up as he slips a hand into his backpack to pull out a set of room keys. He places it on Jongin's held out hand and hears a friendly 'thanks' before off he goes again.

The exchange was witnessed by none other than his best friend before him, of course, who simply chews on his chicken thigh like one would with popcorn while watching a movie.

"Looks like you're on speaking terms with him again." Baekhyun says, his gaze clearly inquisitive and observant. Kyungsoo gives him an indifferent shrug and is thankful his friend is not actually probing.

Later at the pool, Kyungsoo changes into his diving gear and refrains himself from looking over at the pool. The sounds coming from the coach's whistle and the splashes of water are like white noises to him, but he longs to be in the water now that he is no longer bound to the usage of his crutch.

The water feels good soaking the skin of his legs. It's lukewarm and despite Kyungsoo preferring it to be warmer, this feels good enough. Clearly in his world, he jumps in a startle when he suddenly feels a grip around his right ankle.

Then, a dripping wet blonde head resurfaces. Kyungsoo resists a blush, trying hard to ignore the chill from where his ankle was touched beneath the water.

"Take it easy," Jongin only says, brushing his wet bangs out of his forehead. His ear piercings glisten under the lights, and beads of water roll down his toned chest. "Although I'd rather you stay out of the water today too."

"It doesn't hurt anymore," Kyungsoo mumbles, looking away, swinging his legs under the water.

"I'll be at the seats." Jongin says matter-of-factly, heaving up and out of the pool. Kyungsoo wants to retaliate that he'll be fine without him but then finds himself tongue tied, reluctantly heeding to Jongin in the end. It feels awfully familiar like what happened last night.

_"Go to sleep," Jongin had said to him last night, moments later after Kyungsoo confessed. Kyungsoo stopped him from leaving just yet by tugging harder at his shirt._

_"You're- You're not grossed out?" He asks, nervous. "I just said I liked you." Is Jongin really about to end the conversation here?_

_"I don't see why I should be grossed out over that." Jongin gently detached Kyungsoo's hand from his shirt. He took a moment to himself, seemingly contemplating, until he came to a resolute. "I'm going to sleep."_

_Kyungsoo stopped him again. "That's not fair... Where's my closure?" Jongin did not answer, and that was more than enough for Kyungsoo to understand. "I'm changing rooms."_

_As soon as he said that, Jongin grabbed his hand. "Don't."_

_"You're obviously grossed out. I'm changing rooms." He did not think he could handle the rejection with the source of it around. There was no way Jongin thought they could still be roommates after this revelation. It would cost too much for Kyungsoo to save face._

_"I'm not letting you."_

_"Then turn me down properly!" Kyungsoo very nearly yelled once again, his whole body shaking._

_"I'm not turning you down." Jongin said, ruffling his hair with a half smile, before walking off to his own bed._

_Kyungsoo did not understand, and although he did not get the closure he needed, he was not completely dissatisfied about it either. They went to sleep with the issue heavy hanging around the air._

-

"You wanna tell me why Jongin isn't leaving this place and instead is watching out for you like a fucking hawk?"

"Do me a favour and pretend he's not there."

"I can do that but I can't pretend I'm not curious."

"Excuse me, you there," Their scuba diving instructor calls out for Jongin, and Kyungsoo immediately tries to find a hiding spot behind Baekhyun. "A class is currently being conducted here, I'd appreciate it if you could leave."

Kyungsoo wants to drown himself in the water if it meant getting rid of this second hand embarrassment. He knows Jongin can be very audacious against the elders if they serve as no importance to him.

"Is there such a rule?" Jongin asks back with no remorse whatsoever. Kyungsoo wishes the water could open up and swallow him right about now.

-

Kyungsoo steps out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair and pacing around the room since Jongin has not yet returned. Noticing the messed up sheets on Jongin's bed, he mindlessly picks them up and folds them properly, patting them once done, and is reminded about Jongin's _"I'm not turning you down"_ last night.

"Whatever the hell did he mean by that..." Kyungsoo sighs. Spotting a hair comb near Jongin's pillow, Kyungsoo takes it and brings it to Jongin's desk. Since his ankle does not hurt anymore, he can now tidy up the room when necessary, if not out of the force of habit. Jongin usually appreciates him doing so.

Kyungsoo is never the kind of person who would go through people's stuffs, seriously. It is just that Jongin's earring chest on the upper top of the desk has been left conveniently opened, revealing the dozens of earrings of various types, but mostly the hoop and stud ones. There are also spikey ones but he has never seen Jongin wearing those. He wonders how that feels like underneath his fingertips...

"You wanna do it?"

Kyungsoo pulls his hand back immediately at the voice, turning around with a bashfully surprised face. Jongin has a laptop pouch in his hand and a set of room keys in his other. He did not hear Jongin come in. "D- Do what?"

Jongin comes up to him and he looms over him with a playful smile, his hand reaching for Kyungsoo's right earlobe, pinching it gently. "Piercing."

"I'm really not sure about it..."

"I have the kit." Jongin says invitingly, his forefinger starting to circle his ear and poking into it. It tickles, making Kyungsoo tilt his head and lift his shoulder in reflex, blushing. "Let me just sterilize the tools first."

Five minutes later, Kyungsoo finds himself seated on the floor right next to Jongin's bed with a sudden thrill while simultaneously feeling mentally unprepared. He definitely has thought of it, multiple times, and mostly it is because he finds them fascinating on Jongin, not at the prospect of getting it himself.

Jongin is seated right in front of him, and the tools are laid out on the space next to them on the floor, while the earring chest on another side. Kyungsoo has been staring at Jongin's t-shirt, particularly at the minimalistic text written on the left pocket, when he suddenly feels something cool on his right ear, and lets out a tiny shriek.

“Ah, sorry, I forgot to ask which ear,” Jongin pulls back the moistened cotton swab, getting a marker pen.

Which ear? Does it matter, actually? Kyungsoo eyes Jongin's ears thoughtfully, and he has so many of them. He has some on his lobes, his helix, his tragus and he even has an industrial piercing which in other times Kyungsoo would only think it looked cool on him but now thinking about how Jongin got that, it just makes Kyungsoo's stomach twist. He is still thinking about, not realizing he has his eyebrows furrowed at the decision he is trying to arrive to until Jongin snorts and rubs at his forehead with a thumb.

"Want me to decide it for you?"

Kyungsoo flushes, shaking his head because although the offer is nice, he would feel defeated if he allowed Jongin to make the decision for him. In the end, Kyungsoo points at his right earlobe while gnawing at his lower lip.

“Okay,” Jongin closes in on him and marks the centre of the lobe with the marker pen before wiping the surface with the cotton damped with alcohol, starts wiping it on the front side of the earlobe, and then the back. _He's close_, Kyungsoo thinks, having to turn his head over to give Jongin more access._ Too close._

“Are you sure it won’t hurt much?” Kyungsoo asks quietly.

"It should hurt less with some numbing cream, but I don't have one at the moment." Jongin says, and Kyungsoo pales. "Though I can tell you, I've never needed the numbing cream for myself when I do it."

"Will it bleed a lot?"

"Nah, it shouldn't bleed a lot, or at all." Jongin takes what looks like a giant needle to Kyungsoo who feels like his face has drained from all blood. "Close your eyes if it helps." And Kyungsoo does. "It'll be done in no time."

-

Jongin pauses, not because he is suddenly doubtful about making a new change to Kyungsoo's body part with his own hands, no, in fact he is honoured to do it. But Kyungsoo has a tight grip on the side of Jongin's shirt, effectively scrunching it, and the action forces his body to bend towards him.

"Kyungsoo," Jongin lowers his hand holding the needle and away from Kyungsoo's vision. "Do you want to sit on my lap instead?"

Kyungsoo's eyes shoot open, mostly in horror. "What?"

"My lap. It would be easier for us both." Jongin says but he can quite understand the sudden reddening of Kyungsoo's face practically screaming 'it would not be easy for me!'. "You can hold onto me better without bending your body towards me."

Jongin waits patiently, the needle hidden from view, until Kyungsoo loosens his grip from the material of Jongin's shirt and gets up. He settles on Jongin's lap with apparent hesitance, and obviously tries not to get too close.

The warmth feels nice, but Jongin forces himself to focus on the task at hand. Kyungsoo has shut his eyes again, and it is in passing that Jongin notices the long lashes fluttering against his cheeks. With a pair of forceps, he uses them to clip the lobe tissue in place and very quickly and efficiently pokes into the skin where it was marked with a hollow piercing needle, forcing it through rather easily despite Kyungsoo's increasing trembling.

He gets a cork and places it behind the lobe, further pushing the needle until it pokes through the cork, and it is done. Leaning back, he lets the needle sit there, and Kyungsoo still has his eyes closed.

Jongin lets him, if it buys him time to stare at Kyungsoo's face this close. His skin is so clear, void of blemishes and active acne, and this observation later morphs into a thought that maybe Kyungsoo's legs are equally smooth and pretty.

"Jongin?"

He breaks out of his thoughts that were very nearly headed southwards. "Yeah."

"Is it done?"

"It is," Jongin watches Kyungsoo slowly open his eyes, blinking away, and looking at Jongin confusedly. His hand reaches up to touch at the piercing needle but Jongin stops him. "We gotta let it sit for some minutes before removing it."

"You- You mean it's still there?"

Jongin nods. "Didn't hurt, right?"

"Just... stings a bit." Kyungsoo starts balling his hands together, probably does not know where to place them whilst still being in this position. "Can I... get off?"

"No, it'll be done in a moment." Jongin opens his stash of earrings, showing them to Kyungsoo. "Any preference?"

Kyungsoo purses his lips together. "Nothing too fancy."

"Maybe studs?"

"Yeah... maybe that." He points at a pair of nautical anchor tiny stud earrings, and Jongin smiles, taking one out and sterilizing it with a quick wipe of alcohol before wrapping it inside a tissue while waiting for some minutes.

Kyungsoo asks him again if it is done and if it can be removed but Jongin again says no, and that is not even Jongin's desire of wanting this proximity to last talking. "For someone who likes me, you sure look uncomfortable when we're this close."

"I just... don't wanna make _you_ feel uncomfortable."

The extent of Kyungsoo's consideration for him is really... "Honestly speaking, I'm actually pretty comfortable."

"I know you. You're just trying to be nice."

Jongin feigns thinking. "I don't try to be nice if I don't expect to get something out of it."

Kyungsoo averts his gaze elsewhere. "I can see why you're a business student..."

"Are you not curious?"

"Of what?"

"Of what I think of you. Of what I expect to get out of this."

The anxious frown on Kyungsoo's face is somehow making him feel guilty. Jongin should probably have not made him wait.

"I just don't see the point of making me wait when I already know you're just trying to be nice again to see what's the best way to reject me without hurting me," Kyungsoo says, and it amazes Jongin how his mind conjures up such a thought as much as it worries him. Does Kyungsoo really have no faith in the both of them together?

At this point, Jongin reconsiders the timing because he is suddenly aware that these gestures might be misleading the whole situation. But if Kyungsoo cannot interpret how Jongin is comfortable with him on his lap, with very little distance between their faces like this, with their body warmth shared, then Jongin learns that the only way to get through to him is the direct approach. This brings him to the thought that Kyungsoo was brave enough to confront him that night with the sudden confession (although Jongin thinks he was partly at fault for pressuring him too.)

Jongin decides that is enough time for letting the piercing needle sit, and he warns Kyungsoo firsthand before removing it from his lobe, with Kyungsoo again shutting his eyes close afraid that it would hurt. It was a smooth remove and the needle was immediately replaced with the nautical anchor stud.

"What if I say I like you too?" Jongin questions nonchalantly, placing the earring back on and locking it there.

"Then you'll soon realize that it's a mistake."

"You're... not very optimistic about this, aren't you."

Kyungsoo pouts, his finger touching the stud on his ear before Jongin stops him for fear of infection. "Don't people get hurt because they expect too much and get too little?"

Jongin frowns. Kyungsoo could not have expected Jongin to outright reject him, did he? Jongin has no plans of hurting him. "People get hurt if they don't do anything about it at all."

"No, that's called playing safe."

"So when you told me you liked me the other night, does that mean you didn't play safe?"

Kyungsoo blushes. "I- I was not on guard." Jongin has to hide an amused grin with his hand. "Don't laugh."

"I'm not laughing."

"You're laughing. Why do you think it's funny?" Kyungsoo actually sounds sulky so Jongin takes a deep breath and returns to his poker face. His roommate still does not look pleased.

"Because you tugged at me and deliberately confessed. I was the one who was caught off guard."

Kyungsoo blinks, confused. "Of course you would be. I even imagined you would look grossed out."

"You're really not an optimist."

"I- Tell me one good reason why I should have been and still should be optimistic about what I just did because I have one good too many clues about how wrong things could go and if you tell me to be optimistic about it one more time--"

"I like you too." Jongin cuts him off before Kyungsoo starts crying because with the way the male on top of him is speaking too fast, it wouldn't take long for his eyes to pool. "Maybe you should have expected that."

Kyungsoo does not look too trustful. "No, I didn't expect that."

"Well, I like you too, and I don't know why it was so hard for you to take a hint," Jongin says seriously.

"But I'm not a girl." Kyungsoo blurts out equally seriously.

"Of course you're not."

"You like girls."

"I liked them, yeah."

"You like men?"

Jongin hums in contemplation, pursing his lips. "Not quite."

"Then you don't actually like me. I think you're mistaken," Kyungsoo says, reaching for Jongin's arm and forcing a hand on his left chest. "I don't have what you always look for in girls."

Confused, Jongin looks at his own hand being held against Kyungsoo's chest. "What I look for?"

"A big rack." Kyungsoo says it so casually it takes all effort on Jongin's part to not blush while looking at his own hand resting to Kyungsoo's heart which is beating very, very rapidly. "I'm not busty."

"Why do you think I was into busty girls?"

Kyungsoo shrugs. "Your exes were all busty."

"Those were my exes. I don't expect you to be busty since you're a dude."

Kyungsoo looks sad, and his hand is still forcing Jongin's hand on his chest, not that Jongin minds. He is actually surprised by how soft Kyungsoo feels under his touch. When Jongin tries putting himself in Kyungsoo's shoes, he can kind of see the possible worries his roommate might have. _Could he perhaps have been insecure about the fact that he isn't a big-busted girl? And feels bad for liking me, whom he believed as a straight man?_

"You know I don't mind that you're a man, don't you?"

Kyungsoo looks down, finally releasing his hold on Jongin's hand. "Yeah, because you're kind."

Insecurity does not look good on Kyungsoo. Jongin knows this will take some time getting through to him. "No, because I like you, just as you are. You don't need to change anything about you to conform to what you think my preferences are."

He really has no plans of letting Kyungsoo go, not when he is snug on his lap like it is the place to be, looking like a pretty little thing that needs constant reassurance and love with which Jongin is always ready to pamper him with. It is what he has been doing all these years.

It took him six years to realize his inexplicable attachment to Kyungsoo is nothing less than a form of romantic attraction, disguised as platonic affection and manifested as familial overprotectiveness. Maybe Kyungsoo has waited enough.

Replacing his hand on Kyungsoo's chest with his own face, nuzzling into the softness of his roommate, taking a whiff of the scent that is unique to Kyungsoo only and listening to the tiny protesting yelp from the other, Jongin wants to keep him forever. Perhaps he has been doing it already.

"What are you doing..." Kyungsoo mumbles, embarrassed, his hands both trying to push Jongin by the shoulders albeit weakly. "I have no breasts so stop doing that. It's embarrassing."

Jongin detaches from Kyungsoo's chest and he already misses the warmth. "Can I touch here?" He places his hands on Kyungsoo's hips, his fingers spreading close towards the curves. "Just touching, I promise."

Kyungsoo has a very wary expression, as if he's scared of what Jongin would find out if he ventured towards such territory. He looks like he's calculating very carefully before caving in, and the way he consents it by dragging Jongin's hands lower and lower and just, stills there, is not something he thought his Kyungsoo would do.

He feels it, the curves of Kyungsoo's behind, round and supple and warm against his palms. He loves it, this feeling, but he cannot tell if Kyungsoo feels the same with the way he is hiding his face in his hands, ears pink. Jongin slides his hands upwards, slipping underneath Kyungsoo's shirt, and feels the depression of Kyungsoo's lower back, the ridges of his backbone, the shoulder blades. Kyungsoo's obedient, or rather, flustered silence, is what still encourages Jongin to go on.

It's the boldness that moves his hand down Kyungsoo's front this time, but that is short-lived when Kyungsoo stops him just before he could reach for the drawstrings of Kyungsoo's sweatpants.

"Are you done experimenting with me?"

A burst bubble - that is how the question felt like to him. In his sudden withdraw, the weight on his lap is no more, and he finds himself seeing Kyungsoo's back against him as he leaves him on the floor, thinking that, ah, he is still not getting through to him.

-

"Wait, you got a _piercing?"_

They are at a Starbucks, and Baekhyun leans forward on the table, trying to inspect the new accessory sitting tight on Kyungsoo's right earlobe. When he tries touching it, Kyungsoo jerks away, muttering that it still hurts.

"When? When did you get it? I thought you were never the type. Also, why?" Baekhyun shoots him with the interrogation, narrowing his eyes at the shorter male with suspicion. "I can't believe I didn't notice when we were in classes just now. Jongin made you get it, right? How did he convince you?"

Kyungsoo twirls his bangs, subtly hiding his red face but knowing it never really works in Baekhyun's viewpoint. "He just said it was easy..."

Baekhyun pauses. "Wait, he gave you that piercing? He pierced you _himself?"_

"That sounds weird without the... I mean, yeah."

"And you chose to pierce your right ear?"

Kyungsoo fingers the anchor stud on his lobe. "What's wrong with my right ear?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong with your right ear. It's perfect. He did a perfect job."

Kyungsoo chooses to ignore how Baekhyun is still going off about it, and instead is weighing on how he was probably too harsh in pushing Jongin away last night. Having Jongin's hands all over him was a little too overwhelming, and the instilled belief that Jongin was using him as a quick substitute for a girl made Kyungsoo panic when his roommate tried touching his front.

Baekhyun takes his phone out and checks the time. "I should be leaving soon. They're starting to set things up."

"Sure." Kyungsoo says dully. Unlike him, Baekhyun is part of the music band club, and is an active member. "You're the event manager for tonight, right?"

"Yeah," The buzzer that was left aside on their table vibrates in a rhythmic manner. "Oh hey, finally." Kyungsoo offers a helping hand but Baekhyun said it is fine since he already called one of the event crews to come down and get the coffees.

"Hey, my watch, yeah?" Baekhyun turns back to him, his hands full. Kyungsoo nods, giving him the okay sign. He leaves with Baekhyun, and they part ways along the way.

-

"Yeah, you're all patched up. You can start partaking in your activities again, what was it... swimming?"

"Scuba diving," Kyungsoo corrects his doctor, gaze set on his lap.

"Yeah, that. You might wanna watch out from making any sudden movements with your previously affected ankle, though. Oh, and don't be alone in the pool, maybe have someone look out for you like how your boyfriend did--"

"I- I don't have a boyfriend." Kyungsoo stammers, blushing. "The guy who came with me last week was my roommate."

"Oh dear, forgive me for such a rude assumption," The doctor laughs it off. "You're fortunate to have such a concerned roommate."

_Overly concerned_ might have been more accurate, Kyungsoo thinks. He is dismissed immediately after the physical examination, proceeding straight to the pool changing rooms since Baekhyun said he left his watch on top of their lockers and wanted Kyungsoo to take it for him while the other man goes for his club band activities. They have no scuba diving classes today.

He seems to have arrived early, much earlier than the swimming team practice session. He looks around for any higher ups such as the coach, before taking lazy strides to the water body.

Crouching, he stares at his own reflection on the water surface, dipping a hand into it and making a small splash. He watches the tiny ripples caused by his own doing, and wonders why they are gradually getting bigger and bigger--

A blonde head emerges from the water surface, and although it should come as a surprise, Kyungsoo does not even flinch and he merely gauges on the blonde-haired man with wide eyes, unmoving.

"Well aren't you early," Jongin says, taking a quick look at the clock hung right above the entrance. Kyungsoo does not even bother correcting the fact that Jongin must have thought he had diving lessons today. The swimmer must be here for self practice. When Jongin turns back to look at the shorter male, Kyungsoo quickly lowers his gaze, but that results in him staring at the glistening toned and tanned pecs, which is a terrible idea. Left with indecision and quite possibly speechlessness, Kyungsoo decides to just get up and leave--

"Why don't you time me?"

He hears Jongin offer, pointing at the stopwatch conveniently sitting on a plastic chair several feet away from the edge overflow drains. There is mild reluctance on his part, but oh hell he's here anyway.

He takes the stopwatch, not because he is afraid of being seen rude to not help him but more because he has no better reason to reject him. Maybe while Jongin is busy swimming away to the other side and back he would not notice Kyungsoo already left him.

Except, the plan did not fall through, and he crouches still watching his roommate swim in silence save for the sounds of limbs cutting through the water and making splashes and draining into the drains. Kyungsoo finds himself captivated by the sheer grace of Jongin's form speedily making his way to the other end of the pool and back, with the agility of a dolphin in its natural habitat.

Still caught up with how beautiful Jongin's swimming was despite Jongin already resurfacing, he did not even notice how the start button on the stopwatch was not pressed.

"So how did I do?" Jongin asks, panting, taking off the swimming cap and goggles.

"I'm- I'm sorry," Kyungsoo is still dazed, watching Jongin push his wet hair back so he can properly look at Kyungsoo. "I didn't time you..."

"You didn't?" Jongin says, not looking the least bit disappointed or upset. Instead, he is chuckling. "I personally think that was my best, though."

"Sorry..." Now that the blunder finally sinks in, Kyungsoo now feels bad. "I'll time you again."

"It's fine, I'm gonna catch a quick five," Jongin settles comfortably, floating on his back and closing his eyes. "It won't be long before our practice starts."

Looking at Jongin relaxing in the water, Kyungsoo finds it his cue to leave, but it seems like the swimmer has something else in mind when he asks--

"Care to join me?"

Kyungsoo sputters, looking down at his outfit. "I'm... I'm not--"

"Just take off your jeans." Jongin suggests. "Oh, I don't mean it _that_ way. Actually, don't listen to me. I know you never really bare your legs."

Does Jongin sound... disappointed? Or is that just Kyungsoo's mind tricking him into perceiving it that way?

"I'll join you, if you could wait while I go and change," Kyungsoo finally decides, slightly flushing. Not waiting to see how Jongin reacts to that, he quickly makes a dash to the changing rooms, ignoring Jongin's advice of 'not to rush it' which is probably a concern for his very recently healed ankle.

When he comes back out, attired in his full body wetsuit, Jongin seems to have settled on the edge, sitting while kicking his legs in the water. Kyungsoo hesitantly joins him, taking the spot beside him and discreetly leaves some space between them. Mimicking Jongin into soaking his legs, he visibly shivers at the change of the temperature hitting his skin. When he finally steals a look at the man beside him, the attractive and warm smile directed at him flusters him even more, causing him to shift his gaze to the water below instead.

Jongin acts so... normal around him despite the other night. It leaves Kyungsoo confused on how to act around him.

"We're still friends," Jongin cuts the silence. "Aren't we?"

Kyungsoo is not sure what Jongin wants to hear. "Of course we are." Even if Kyungsoo wanted to cut ties off with him, there really has just been no good reason to do that, and if anything, he does owe Jongin for a lot of things.

"I can't change what you think of me. That's impossible. But I can promise you I'll be by your side, and that you can count on me. I can promise you that much."

Kyungsoo swings his legs in the water, watching it create small waves. "Things will change once you meet the right girl." He mumbles just barely under his breath.

The waves multiply in amplitude when Jongin suddenly jumps in, sliding his goggles on and snapping the strap against the back of his head.

"Time me."

Kyungsoo, taken aback by the sudden demand, quickly reaches for the stopwatch left on the dry grounds, finding himself concentrating properly on Jongin now as a way to atone for his blunder just now. He isn't sure if Jongin caught the last bit he mumbled out just prior to Jongin's request to time him.

He stumbles through the countdown and as soon as he presses the start button, water splashes onto him, some landing on his cheeks making him wince in surprise. Wiping it down with the heel of his palm despite knowing he might only get wet again, he watches Jongin speeding up ahead and already nearing the turning point. _He's crazy fast_, Kyungsoo thinks in awe. No matter what stroke Jongin does, he always makes it look so effortlessly nimble. His athleticism is something Kyungsoo can only wish to have.

It is when Jongin makes the turn that Kyungsoo is left stumped, and it is neither because of how Jongin is fast approaching the starting point nor at how his sole swimming is creating large waves around him as if the entire water body is under his command - but it is that Jongin switches to the lane beside it, with which _Kyungsoo_ is currently positioned at at the starting point.

So right now, it just looks like Jongin is fast approaching _Kyungsoo._

Alarmed, Kyungsoo wonders if he should step up from soaking his legs, but he wonders too long and flails too much while still being careful not to drop the stopwatch from his grip, and _then_ he is reminded that his one and only task is as simple as it can be - which is to time Jongin, not acting like a fool.

So Kyungsoo stays still, feeling the waves swaying his soaking legs a slight, and strong, and stronger that his free hand has to find purchase on the edge of the pool to keep himself from going off balance. His thumb is readily sitting on the stop button. _Anytime now_. As strong as the waves are against him, the heartbeats thumping within his ribcage are just as loud and fast, it's almost like Jongin is racing for Kyungsoo's heart--

A smack resounds from under the water from where Jongin touches the wall, prompting Kyungsoo to press the button at the same time Jongin resurfaces and takes off his goggles. The swimmer is panting, but in the middle of panting, he is grinning. Victoriously. And it sets Kyungsoo's heart beating erratically, not that it ever stops pacing so fast whenever Jongin's around. A pacemaker. This sight... this sight of Jongin, Kyungsoo really cherishes and loves.

"Things have already changed since I met you."

-

With Kyungsoo this close once again, Jongin will not allow him to slip from his grasp this time like he did the other night. He is not about to repeat that same mistake.

Kyungsoo looks at him with so much admiration and love, how could Jongin not feel happy about it? He has never felt this motivated in a while, has never felt as alive as he is now, and it's only possible with Kyungsoo around.

Jongin wants to keep him by his side, wants to spoil him rotten. Jongin wants Kyungsoo. He is not an experiment; he is a genuine subject of romantic affection and sexual desire, and speaking of desire, Jongin strongly wants to kiss Kyungsoo, right about now.

Pulling Kyungsoo by the back of his knees, he prompts Kyungsoo to scoot his butt closer towards the pool, and with a yelp Kyungsoo finally dips into the water, being held securely by Jongin so his feet do not have to land on the tiled ground of the pool. The buoyancy serves in making Kyungsoo stay afloat but there is distance between them and Jongin does not like that distance.

"Wrap your legs around my waist," He requests lowly, but then seeing Kyungsoo's perplexed expression, he thinks that he might have crossed a line again and too soon but Kyungsoo pleasantly surprises him when he places his hands on Jongin's shoulders and starts wrapping his legs around Jongin's waist under the water, just as requested. _Dear god_, Jongin might not be able to hold back.

"How do I know this is not an experiment?" Kyungsoo asks, his voice quiet and eyes imploring.

"It never has been." Jongin smiles. "But just so you know, I'm not really that kind. Keeping you close with me... maybe it's not just because I want us to stay close friends for a long time."

Kyungsoo looks confused. "So you're saying you had ulterior motives?"

"Maybe." Jongin walks them through the water and towards the wall, and turns his back so he can lean against it, with Kyungsoo still in his arms. "Maybe I just don't want to be apart from you, even if it means I had to see you date all those men. It didn't feel fair, but knowing I still have you around I chose not to mind."

"You weren't exactly fair, either," Kyungsoo pouts. "We were both the same."

The sun rays from outside refract through the water body, creating an ethereal glow around them, it almost feels magical.

"But you're perfect. I fell for you for a reason..." Kyungsoo wraps his arms around Jongin's neck, inching his face closer to Jongin's.

They have all the pool to themselves, and they have each other to themselves. Jongin has a hard time restraining himself, giving Kyungsoo the time he needs to be comfortable with this... change, a shift, letting Kyungsoo set the pace now. He smiles in secret when Kyungsoo starts tilting his head and closes his eyes, his ears tinged a deep red, and their lips brush against each other.

His hand roams on Kyungsoo's back, an encouragement, to come closer, _I want it too, you're not alone in this_. Kissing your best friend of six years, the friend you might have secretly lusted for, feels amazing, but having these feelings reciprocated... is even better.

Jongin smiles, pulling away. Kyungsoo cupping his face like he's the most precious thing in the world makes him feel so silly and loved.

"No regrets?" Kyungsoo whispers against his lips, taking Jongin's hand and placing it on his clothed chest, making the swimmer feel him up. In return, Jongin fondles the left nipple, seeing Kyungsoo tense up at the sensual touch. The insecurity must still linger, and Jongin knows time will fix it.

Jongin does not need a big rack in his subject of desire; Jongin only needs it to be Kyungsoo. "No regrets." He gets off from the wall, flipping them around so Kyungsoo is the one leaning against it this time, and it has Kyungsoo dropping his legs from the taller man's waist so he can stand on the pool ground, his head lifted to look at Jongin questioningly, but mostly dazed.

Jongin cannot help but notice the glint on Kyungsoo's right lobe, which used to be bare. It mirrors Jongin's, and there is this pride swelling within his chest knowing that that was his handiwork, and the accessory sitting there is his. The area surrounding it still looks reddish, still healing. He will need to remind Kyungsoo about the aftercare.

Caging the smaller man with arms around either side of him and hands resting on the edge of the pool, Jongin leans down with the intention to kiss him again--

"No indecent activities in the pool, boys. Take it to the bedroom." His coach's voice is heard loud and clear, interrupting their intimate moments.

"Sorry," Jongin bounces off an apology, and says okay when his coach instructs him to get ready for their practice. Kyungsoo on the other hand has found his hiding spot in Jongin's chest, blushing away at being found this way by a higher-up. Jongin caresses his head lovingly, urging them to get out of the pool and towards the changing rooms, because there is no way Jongin is stopping here.

-

"Y- You better," Kyungsoo moans, sounding urgent when Jongin starts to unzip the front of his wetsuit. "Go to practice now..."

Jongin detaches from kissing down Kyungsoo's neck, water dripping from his hair and onto Kyungsoo's skin. "Are you getting rid of me now?"

"I don't want your coach to think weird things..."

"Weird things?"

"Like I'm being a distraction to you," Kyungsoo pouts, zipping up his wetsuit when Jongin finally gets off of him. He was instantly pushed to the lockers as soon as Jongin brought them inside the changing rooms and they had been making out since then.

"I would quit swimming for you."

Kyungsoo gapes. "You can't do that!" He is caught off guard when Jongin gives him one last peck before walking off to the pool.

"I was playing with 'ya," The swimmer says with a smile, shooting him a small wave before heading back to the pool, but is paused on the way by two men standing at the door, which turns out to be Jongin's teammates, their jaws hanging.

"Dude, you bat for the other team?"

"Since when?"

Jongin lands both his hands on each of their shoulders. "I'm still in the swimming team. Let's go."

"No, that's not what we meant--" Their voices fade away as Jongin drags them to the pool with him.

Kyungsoo thinks he could not be any more embarrassed at the moment, getting caught by none other than Jongin's teammates and Jongin not explaining himself nor denying it.

-

"You got my watch?" Baekhyun asks.

Kyungsoo stops by the event hall to hand over the accessory to its owner, Baekhyun. He also got a boyfriend but he is not about to say that to Baekhyun, at least not now.

"Why is your hair wet?" Baekhyun puts on the watch on the spot, leaning on the doorframe while keeping the door open with his foot. Kyungsoo can see some people performing on the stage, and some on the seats cheering.

He picks a damp strand, and blushes. "No reason."

"You really can't fool me. You smell of chlorine. I thought we had no classes today."

"It was just. Self-practice. Yeah."

"Self practice, my ass," Baekhyun cups Kyungsoo's face and examines properly. "Eyes dazed, cheeks hot, lips swollen." Baekhyun gasps. "No you didn't."

"What--"

"A locker room orgy!?" Baekhyun clamors in a half whisper half hiss, and Kyungsoo immediately removes himself from him.

"It wasn't! I don't even reek of sex, Jesus." Kyungsoo looks around in case anyone overheard them.

Baekhyun squints his eyes at him. "You... ate fire noodles by the pool?"

"Go back to your event. Goodbye." Kyungsoo pushes him back into the room and mindlessly nods when Baekhyun yells out a 'I'll stop by your room!' before the door shuts.

-

As soon as Jongin comes back from practice, he finds Kyungsoo sitting anxiously on his bed hugging the harp seal plushie to his chest, as if waiting for him.

"Do they know?" His roommate asks.

Jongin takes off his shoes and drops his duffel bag on the floor, heavy with his still wet swimming shorts. "About us? Probably."

"Do they mind?"

"It's not their business so they shouldn't," Jongin brings a bag of snacks and sits on the floor, urging Kyungsoo to do the same.

He sees the evident unease written all over Kyungsoo's body language, and when Kyungsoo sits down across of him on the floor, he still hasn't removed the plush toy from himself.

"If any of them ever harasses you after this, you've gotta tell me."

"No, that's not what I'm concerned about..." Kyungsoo rests his chin on top of the plushie, staring into the distance.

"Are you worried about us getting caught in rumours again?" Jongin questions. They have yet to open the snacks, so Jongin does it for them, tearing open the packet of marshmallows for Kyungsoo and baked almonds for himself.

"I've had my share of rumours, and I'm more than used to it. I'm just worried about you."

"Did you forget about high school?" He picks a marshmallow and presses it against Kyungsoo's lips, and pushing it in when Kyungsoo finally parts his lips. "We had rumours back then too. This is no different."

"What if it affects your swimming career?"

"The coach said nothing about it, and he was the one who caught us in the pool," Jongin pops an almond into his mouth. "Also, swimming is fun but I don't plan on going on a global scale or anything."

"Your coach will tear your head off if he heard that." Kyungsoo chuckles, looking at ease now, and goes to steal another marshmallow. Kyungsoo has changed into his sleepwear, and the room smells faintly of soap. He must have showered, while Jongin only did a quick rinse back at the changing rooms.

"Why do you think I treat you like a child?" Jongin randomly asks in the midst of chewing his almonds. He would eat the marshmallows with Kyungsoo had he not been on a diet right before his tournament.

"You know," Kyungsoo reaches for a can of peach tea among all the snacks Jongin has bought for them, opening it and sipping on it, purposefully averting his gaze. "Just the way you act like you're my parent sometimes..."

Jongin blinks. "You think I'm naggy?"

Kyungsoo looks at him as if it isn't obvious enough. "Anyway, I feel like you have this fixed image of me, I don't know how to put it to words..." He says this while dipping his marshmallow into the nutella and eats it.

Jongin isn't sure if Kyungsoo means anything by that, and if said image is a good thing or not, but Jongin does have his own perception about his long term best friend now boyfriend, none of them negative. "Even though we've known each other since high school?"

"Yes..."

"Is it because you're gay while I'm not?"

"Something along those lines," Instead of getting another marshmallow, Kyungsoo opts for the almonds instead, and grimaces at the taste. "These taste raw."

"They're baked," Jongin says, finding himself staring at the stud earring on Kyungsoo's right lobe. It still looks reddish around it. "Remind me to clean your piercing later." He then remembers that Kyungsoo has showered and will most probably be headed to bed after the snacking. "Never mind, I'll do it now."

Quickly downing his own bottle of water, he goes up to the bathroom to clean his hands and finds an ear care solution and some cotton tips. Knowing that he was the one who gave Kyungsoo that piercing, he felt some sense of responsibility in ensuring that it does not get an infection.

"I didn't know you have to do the aftercare for a new piercing." Kyungsoo says, stilling himself while Jongin does his job. "I thought once you're pierced, that's it."

"Generally, lobe piercings heal the fastest, but there's still risk of infection and I'm not taking that risk. I was the one who gave it to you after all." While Jongin is cleaning the back of the lobe, he notices that the reddish area does not seem to be limited to just around the piercing anymore as it has started to bloom at the tip of the ear now. "You know you're blushing, right?"

Kyungsoo keeps himself quiet. Jongin wraps up the aftercare and is about to leave him be until Kyungsoo grabs ahold of his wrist.

"Kiss it away," He says, his voice small. "The embarrassment."

Jongin smiles, thumbing at Kyungsoo's lower lip with his clean hand. "I won't be able to stop with just a kiss."

-

The floor should be cold on his back, but with how his body is burning everywhere, it isn't.

Jongin has his tongue stuck inside his mouth, and Kyungsoo is taken aback by how aggressive Jongin can be when it comes to intimacy. It's a turn on, but it's also scary.

"Say," Jongin pulls away, leaving both of them breathless. "Don't you feel like doing it?"

Kyungsoo blinks dazedly, panting even harder than Jongin. "Doing what?"

"Sex. With me. We're not highschoolers anymore."

"I... don't think that would be a good idea for you," Kyungsoo admits, trying to clear his head in spite of this haze of lust Jongin has brought him into. "Considering I'm your... first guy. Like, what if you can't g- get it up or something like that... I don't wanna risk it."

For whatever reason, Jongin stifles a snort and plants his face into Kyungsoo's shoulder. What was so funny about what Kyungsoo just said?

"You'd be surprised," Jongin only says, going back to kissing him again but he has grabbed hold of Kyungsoo's hand to place it on his pecs, gliding it down towards his ripped abdominal muscles thanks to all that swimming and training, and Kyungsoo is petrified when Jongin brings it further downwards.

Jongin is semi-hard, and for just being semi-hard, he sure is _big._

"You look gratified."

"Maybe stop with the commentary," Kyungsoo chooses to brush away the comment, embarrassed to death at being called out. The weight in his hand feels too good it makes him curious of how it would sit in his mouth... "Are you really okay with me?"

"You're asking that knowing I'm _this_ excited down here already?" Jongin has removed his hand from Kyungsoo's, probably letting him touch it on his own accord now. He has taken it upon himself to kiss down Kyungsoo's neck, the side where his ear is not pierced. The way he is still careful about Kyungsoo's piercing... Kyungsoo will never find a better man.

He is no novice. He knows Jongin is well-endowed, and he likes that on him and is maybe a little embarrassed by it but he does not plan to hide it; the gratification, like Jongin so kindly pointed it out for him.

"Can I... blow you?" He asks, puzzled when Jongin looks at him surprised. "What's wrong?"

"Maybe you're right, about me having a certain image of you. I didn't expect you to ask to blow me so blatantly."

"Just say you don't want a fellatio from me--" Kyungsoo starts to sulk. Jongin brings them both up so he can sit on the edge of the bed and then gets his pillow for Kyungsoo to rest his knees on whilst on the floor.

"No, I want it." Jongin says, spreading his legs and guiding Kyungsoo's hand back to his growing erection, and teasing the zipper open. Kyungsoo wastes no time pulling the zipper down. He can see Jongin's happy trail leading down to his black Calvin Klein briefs.

-

The pack of almonds are left open on the floor, some spilling out of it. The same goes to the marshmallows. The wet swimming shorts are still in the duffel bag, and Jongin should remember to bring them out and wash them.

But from where he is, he has his roommate on his knees, pupils so blown and dilated, and Jongin does not want to be anywhere else.

Kyungsoo sucks like a champ, like Jongin's cock is his prize, and he would think that Kyungsoo has extreme confidence in this but the red tinging the tips of his ears give it away. _Ah, fuck, he's so cute._

Whenever he has to pull Jongin's cock out so he can gulp in air, and drool starts rolling from the corner of his debauched lips, Jongin feels like defiling him even further. _No good_, he thinks, _you bring out both the best and the worst in me._

Jongin lazily notes the way Kyungsoo rubs under his jaw right before guiding Jongin's dick back inside his mouth. He watches Kyungsoo's cheeks fill with the weight and girth of himself.

"Is your jaw aching?" He slurs the question out, thumbing Kyungsoo's cheek where he can feel his own cockhead pushing it out. He must be too big for him.

"A bit..." Kyungsoo pops his dick out and breathes, his hands resting on both Jongin's knees. He's flushed down to his neck. He zeroes in on him again and Jongin has to stop him for now.

"Your hands are fine."

Even in this situation, Kyungsoo can manage a pout. "Am I not good enough?"

"Not that. I worry for your jaws," Jongin says, massaging Kyungsoo's jaws gently. "You can have just the tip if you want."

Kyungsoo listens to him, sucking on just the crown of his hard-on while his fingers work the entire length of it. He is going at a pretty leisure pace, and Jongin who rests his weight on one hand on the mattress while another caressing the top of Kyungsoo's head, quite likes it, just like this, within the space of their room. Despite the obscene and lewd sounds filling the air and Jongin feeling his abdominal muscles tighten just much more with the impending orgasm, they are pretty content taking their time--

The triple knock on the door followed by it immediately opening forces them to pause.

"Hey guys, we got too much cake-- oh my god."

Kyungsoo is too embarrassed beyond words he tucks Jongin back in. Meanwhile, Jongin is nowherenear embarrassed as much as he is _royally pissed._

-

Kyungsoo is the one to do the walk of shame, considering Baekhyun is his close coursemate after all.

"You guys didn't just make up," Baekhyun says in disbelief. "You both _worked it out_."

Kyungsoo hopes his shirt is large and baggy enough to cover his bulging hard-on. "Why can't you be like any other civilian and knock on the door before you enter?"

"I did knock, I just happened to not wait it out right after knocking. Trust me, I didn't want to walk in on you giving your roommate a fucking blowjob either." He hands over the bag of snacks and cans of beer to him. "That piercing is starting to look more like a 'claiming' to me now. Wait, did you touch his dick with that hand?"

"What are you talking about?" Kyungsoo looks into the bag. "And why is there so much? We can't finish these."

"We bought too much." Baekhyun says, eyeing him intently. "You better head back and finish him off."

Kyungsoo flushes. "I- I was planning to."

"I can't believe you're talking to me right now right after having a cock in your mouth." Baekhyun grimaces. "I really gotta find out he's hung in the worst possible way. The hell did you fit that in your tiny little mouth, anyway?"

"God, you're so vulgar. Go back to your room." Kyungsoo pushes Baekhyun and mutters a shy thanks before shutting the door, sighing. He definitely does taste Jongin's precum in his mouth, and vaguely wonders if Baekhyun could smell it, if it ever has a smell.

By the time Kyungsoo returns, Jongin is no longer around on the bed. He can hear the sounds of water running in the bathroom, and thinks that maybe Jongin had to finish himself off in there. Baekhyun walking in on them was a total mood ruiner.

He looks down on himself, on the still bulging tent underneath his shirt.

-

In the end, Kyungsoo fell asleep waiting for Jongin to finish showering, and was only woken up to be reminded to brush his teeth after all that snacking (Jongin's cock was not part of the snacking, thank you very much).

The moment he woke, his hair all but messy and pointing everywhere, the first thing he learns is that Jongin does not seem to be around in the room, and it has him checking their shoe rack, finding that Jongin's usual training shoes are gone. His roommate is rarely an early riser, but Kyungsoo figures it is because his tournament is drawing close.

Seeing as Jongin did not make the bed before leaving, Kyungsoo sluggishly does it for him, folding his blankets neatly and flattening the wrinkles off of the bedsheets. Sleep is still crawling behind his eyelids, and Jongin's pillow suddenly seems so painfully inviting.

-

"Hey, have you seen Kyungsoo? He didn't come to our morning classes."

Jongin has just finished gym, has his drawstring bag slung back, when Baekhyun who is carrying a laptop and a notebook approaches him. Jongin frowns, automatically reaching for his phone--

"He didn't pick up my calls too. His phone must have died." Baekhyun raises his phone as if to make a point.

"He was just in the room when I left for gym..." Jongin remembers groggily waking up and getting ready for gym in the morning while his roommate cum boyfriend was still soundly sleeping and cuddling his harp seal.

"Did you tire him out or something? Fucked him too good?"

"We didn't fuck yet, no thanks to you." Jongin snaps, deciding to dismiss him so he can check on Kyungsoo back in their room.

Though it seems like Baekhyun's making contact with him has invited other curious onlookers, like how Jongin is now stopped by his own coursemate who happened to do gym the same time as him.

"Hey, I meant to ask you this but is it true you're dating Kyungsoo now? You're a bi now?"

"Wait, your roommate? Seriously?" This time, a female coursemate joins in.

"I thought you were straight?"

"Who's Kyungsoo?" "He's his roommate, and I heard they've been friends since high school."

It eventually ends up into a bunch of rumor chain that Jongin did not ask for. While he has no issues with how people are perceiving him, he is certainly annoyed at these people pointing their fingers at Kyungsoo for apparently being 'that person who came onto his own best friend'.

Jongin forcefully makes his way through the small crowd so he can go back to his room. High school Jongin would have thrown a tantrum by hurling his bag to the wall or something similar, but he has mellowed out from that. He just wants to know where Kyungsoo is, and it isn't like him to take absence from classes like Jongin usually does.

He is, though, in for a surprise, when he opens the door to his room to be met by the sight of a sleeping Kyungsoo. Curling. On his bed.

The clock reads 11.32 in the morning, and Kyungsoo is still asleep. Jongin should do something about that, but at the same time he doesn't. Not when Kyungsoo looks so defenseless in what should be Jongin's den.

"Hey, hey, it's only half past eleven..." Jongin rubs at his nape, his high from his post workout drawing too much excitement within himself and now he has to work on depreciating it. It became worse after they got together. "Kyungsoo," He calls carefully, dropping his drawstring bag on the floor. "You missed morning classes."

He watches his best friend stir with a whine before rolling over to the other side, facing the wall, and Jongin gives up.

The bed dips to his weight, and it does not alarm Kyungsoo. Arms are caging the sleeping male, and it still does not alarm Kyungsoo. The one thing that does, is when Jongin bites on the lobe of Kyungsoo's unpierced ear.

It brings Kyungsoo to nothing more than just a disgruntled whine. "You smell like sweat." Is the first thing that comes out when Kyungsoo cracks his eyes open.

"You smell like sunshine." Jongin returns, referring to the mixing scents of the lotion Kyungsoo regularly applies on his body and their fabric softener.

In the middle of looking so disoriented, Kyungsoo still flushes. "I like you sweaty."

"Yeah? Like me all sweaty after a good workout?"

The rosiness of his cheeks later pale. "Did you say I missed classes?"

"I did." He watches Kyungsoo plant his face into Jongin's pillow and lets out a muffled whimper, the ebony hair unruly like a bird's nest. Jongin wants to mess it up even more.

-

Unnecessary listlessness accompanies the consequences of oversleeping, apart from missing out early periods of classes. Kyungsoo does not even feel hungry anymore as him sleeping in has somehow screwed up his appetite. He gets a cup of iced coffee and is on his way to the library where Baekhyun said he'll be waiting for him.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Baekhyun teases him first thing as he arrives at the table. "Prince Charming woke you up?

Kyungsoo takes a seat across of him, sighing as he covers his face with his hands.

"In the tales, the princess got her finger pricked before sleeping though. Though technically not the same, you did get pricked too. Here." Baekhyun casually points at his own right ear whilst eyeing Kyungsoo's.

"Will you never let that go?" Kyungsoo fingers the stud on his lobe self consciously, still feeling the swelling around the area. He should remember to ask Jongin when it will fully heal.

"No. Never. I thought it was too intimate for someone to do their friend's piercing. Like what if he suddenly offered to pierce on your navel or _down there_?"

Kyungsoo resists his blush but it was to no avail. He brings out his laptop from his bag and tries to maintain his cool. They are in the library, for goodness sake. "I would let him."

Baekhyun steals his iced coffee and takes a momentous sip. "You're a goner, Kyungsoo. A _goner."_

-

Jongin is doing some warm up exercises on dry grounds when Wonshik joins him.

"Coach said your times are improving," Wonshik side-eyes him while doing his stretches.

"Yeah." Jongin lazily answers, more focused on warming up his muscles for optimum swimming later.

"You sure you don't wanna join one more event?"

"No. The individual medley is enough."

"Hey," Wonshik pauses in between his stretches. "About your new boyfriend--"

"I'm going in first," Jongin says after wrapping up his warmup, hopping into the pool.

Disappointed, Wonshik continues doing his warmup exercises on his own and grumbles to himself. "Icy guy as always."

While soaking his whole body in the water to make his body get used to the temperature, he thinks about how he is going to go to third base with Kyungsoo, and if it would be too fast into their relationship. He is aware that Kyungsoo still has troubles getting intimate with him not because of his own disposition, but because of Jongin's dating history. Looking past that, he knows Kyungsoo has no similar problems with his ex boyfriends.

_Ah, am I just sexually frustrated? I just wanna touch him_. He likes how Kyungsoo is so soft to touch.

"You look tense today. Don't keep it pent up," His coach comments pretty much incidentally, and Jongin splashes water to his own face because he knows what his coach meant. _Go and get laid before it ruins your swimming performance_. Clearly, his coach does not prefer his swimmers to abstain before a big tournament.

He gets out of the pool and prepares himself on the platform, asking one of their members to time him.

-

Days go by in a blink and by the time Jongin realizes it, his intercollegiate tournament is just tomorrow. If he isn't busy with academic matters, he would be preoccupied with practice and training, and only comes back for showering and sleeping. Kyungsoo is expectedly very understanding of their lack of time together, but Jongin still feels bad about it. They would kiss each other good night or in the morning when Kyungsoo goes to his morning classes or when Jongin wakes up early for gym, but otherwise they have not had the time to go beyond that.

Just like the recent nights, Jongin returns to their shared room extremely exhausted. He squeezed doing assignments in between classes and practice, and has just finished a weekly class test. Right after afternoon gym, he would head over to the pool for practice. Right now, sleep is what he needs, and sleep is what he gets when he crashes into slumber while waiting for Kyungsoo to finish using the bathroom.

He is awoken roughly half an hour after by the familiar scent of body lotion wafting in the air.

Turning over, the image of Kyungsoo sitting with one knee up while hands aptly massaging the substance onto the skin of his inner thigh slowly settles into focus. The effortless chicness, unknowingly seductive routine with his legs bare, rouses Jongin enough to call the attention to it.

"You know I don't mind you doing it while I'm awake, right?"

Kyungsoo expectedly startles at Jongin saying that, immediately pulling up the sheets to his waist. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

Jongin rests his head on his palm, too lazy to sit up. "We've known each other for six years. Why are you still shy of showing skin to me? You know I would never judge you." He cannot see it but he's pretty sure his roommate is blushing.

"I'm just... not ready about being seen by you... yet."

There is an itch to ask a very personal question to the elder male, and it toes around the topic of his ex boyfriends... "Come over here?" He extends an inviting arm, too lazy to get up and go over there himself.

Kyungsoo nods obediently, but he takes his time getting there, or even getting off his own bed for that matter. Jongin thinks it has a lot to do with how he's thinking of whether or not to just go over to Jongin's bed with his legs fully bare, or if he should just wear his sleeping pants underneath the sheets.

Jongin does not mind waiting, and it pays because Kyungsoo finally lifts the sheets and lets his feet touch the floor. And Jongin's eyes roam from the feet all the way up to the full thighs where they end with the hem of Kyungsoo's oversized shirt. Kyungsoo takes the bottle of lotion along with him as he saunters over to Jongin's bed.

"I appreciate that," Jongin says once Kyungsoo is seated on the edge of Jongin's bed. "How do you feel?"

"Confident," Kyungsoo says, rather timid. "Thanks for not being pushy."

"I won't push you into doing things you don't want." Jongin says. "But I would know if you're just being dishonest to yourself."

"Why do you like me?" Kyungsoo suddenly asks. "I still have this lingering fear that this won't last. That you'd get tired of me someday and go back to dating girls."

"I'm not your ex."

"That doesn't warrant anything." Kyungsoo looks down on his lap. He looks so small, and so distant. Jongin wants to shower him with reassurances, but at the same time he does not want to be overbearing to him.

So he looks up on the ceiling, his breathing steady, his mind foggy but mostly just prone to honesty. It must be the darkness. "You know, after meeting you, when I had sex with girls," Jongin begins, still eyeing the ceiling. "I always think about... how it would be like with you." He says, not one ounce of shame to admit it out in the open. "I jerk off to the thought of having sex with you, to the thought of you moaning under me. I used to feel so guilty for it, like how you would feel disgusted with yourself post masturbation? Yeah, that kinda feeling."

Kyungsoo lowers his head even further, flustered, and Jongin revels in it for two seconds before going back to the ceiling.

"But I also thought about how beautiful my best friend is, and although it makes me jealous at times, I just always think it's nice that many others also find you beautiful. You deserve the attention you get just as much as you deserve feeling loved and secure when you're with me. If time is what you need, then that's fine. I just hope you won't give up on me when we barely even started." Jongin reaches for his hand, squeezing it reassuringly, and is happy that Kyungsoo returns the gesture.

"Thank you, Jongin." Kyungsoo says after a while, playing with Jongin's thumb absentmindedly. "I want this to work out too."

"It will." Jongin smiles, then notices the lotion under Kyungsoo's hand. "Running out again?"

Kyungsoo shakes his head. "I haven't finished applying," He places it on the mattress, exposing it to Jongin, and it does not take long for Jongin to understand.

The swimmer immediately sits up at the invitation, looking over at his roommate for confirmation. The shy nod is a green light for him, and Jongin picks up the bottle of lotion, marvelling over how Kyungsoo turns to face him whilst bringing his legs up the mattress alluringly. Whether or not the allure he carries is intentional, Jongin is still so attracted to it.

He raises the bottle awkwardly, directing it right above Kyungsoo's right shin. "How much do I squeeze out?"

Kyungsoo rests his weight on both his hands, eyeing Jongin through his eyelashes with demure. "Generously."

Jongin doesn't know what the standard of generous is for body lotions, so he just trusts his instincts and squeezes the bottle, watching the blob of white rich and dense substance lands on the pale skin of Kyungsoo's leg. He starts with pressing his thumb over the substance, and he thought it would be more sticky, but it feels rather thin and watery despite its looks. He drags his thumb over the entire blob, thinning it out, and repeats the motion with all his fingers all over Kyungsoo's lower leg until it completely absorbs into the skin.

"Really soft," Says Jongin, referring to the supple skin underneath his touch, but could probably also be understood as the reference for the texture of the lotion. "So you do this every night?"

"Yeah," Kyungsoo's voice has turned breathy, and when Jongin finally regards him Kyungsoo's entire face is flushed. Once it is all thinned out, Kyungsoo scoots closer so Jongin can reach his thighs.

"You have pretty legs," Jongin comments, feeling a little hot, watching Kyungsoo take the bottle and straddle his legs without sitting. The position allows Jongin the access to all over Kyungsoo's thighs and around.

Kyungsoo takes his hand and squeezes out a generous amount of lotion onto his palm before casting the bottle aside. "Between my thighs."

Jongin wastes no time, his hand going between the thighs and under, dabbing the substance over the skin and earning a shudder from the coldness of it. He likes it, the way Kyungsoo's thighs quiver under his touch, and the way he keeps releasing contented sighs. Once the lotion all but thins and evens out, Jongin simply strokes the skin of Kyungsoo's inner thigh teasingly, his hand half hidden by Kyungsoo's oversized shirt. _Soft and fleshy._

Finding the shirt a nuisance now, Jongin lifts it up to reveal Kyungsoo's soft tummy, ignoring the obvious erection as he presses a thumb over Kyungsoo's navel, the act making his stomach tighten. "Let's pierce you here."

Kyungsoo finally moves his hands from when they were static by his sides, lifting Jongin's shirt to reveal his taut muscles and the sunken navel. "Only if you get one too."

Bending his torso forward, Jongin sticks his tongue inside Kyungsoo's the hollow navel, hearing a surprised 'ah' and having fingers tangled in his hair.

"Will it not- ah... hurt there?" Kyungsoo asks, reacting sensitively to the tongue literally fucking his navel. 

"Depends," Jongin finally stops, raising the shirt more, this time to bare the nipples. They're pretty,he flicks a thumb over one of them, considering asking Kyungsoo if he wants a piercing there too. It is an obsession at this point.

"Where does it hurt the most?" Kyungsoo inquires, still talking about piercings.

"Genitals." Jongin has a hand over Kyungsoo's back, pulling him close to his mouth so he can tongue-work around his nipple next.

Kyungsoo's breathing has started to become ragged, both his hands finding support on Jongin's shoulders. "Do- Do you have any?"

"If I did, would you like to see it?" A smooch on Kyungsoo's right nipple, and then another on his left.

"Like, pearlings and stuffs?"

"Pearlings..." He has to stop his ministrations to look up at his roommate. "Did you think I was part of the mafia for me to get myself pearlings?"

"I saw it on a documentary show..."

Jongin would like to question Kyungsoo's choices on the documentary shows he watches in his free time, but it is none of his business. The way Kyungsoo suddenly stares out into space makes him wonder if Kyungsoo fantasizes getting fucked by a dick modified with pearlings.

"Are you into that?"

"What- _huh?_ No no, that's scary," Kyungsoo claims, seating himself on Jongin's legs now, ultimately lowering his shirt after having it bunched up by Jongin's tongue play. Jongin can undoubtedly feel the hard-on resting on his legs, reminding him of his own raging one trapped beneath his sweatpants. "Also, I heard you could get erectile dysfunction from it."

That's unsettling, considering the state of their dicks at the moment. "Tell me what you like in bed, then." He changes the topic.

"Um, I don't know... I often let my partners take the lead..." Kyungsoo mutters away, lowering his eyes until Jongin notes they are on his prominent tent. "But since you're asking me that, I feel like, just knowing that you're big... is enough to turn me on."

A size queen... Jongin would never have guessed. That explains a lot why Kyungsoo looked so happy the first time he gave him fellatio. "I wanna do it."

"What, sex?" Kyungsoo's eyes widen. "Um. Okay."

"Really?" Jongin did not expect him to say yes, at all. "Just now, was it your kind of foreplay?"

"Um, no, I just wanted to finish putting lotion on myself."

Ah, so he wants Jongin to think he was the one who got carried away on his own. Jongin would not buy that even if it came from someone else's mouth.

"Have you ever...," Kyungsoo takes a quick moment to himself before continuing. "Uh, used the backdoor?"

Jongin refrains from asking why Kyungsoo did not just say the word 'ass'. "With my exes? No." This reminds him that sex talk has never really been a common conversation topic between them, not that it should be anyway.

"Let me do it." Kyungsoo lifts himself off, and Jongin assumes because he is going to get lube from his place. So he holds him back down, and then grabs the duffelbag he left on the floor before napping just now. He pulls out a small bottle and hands it to Kyungsoo.

"Why do you have a bottle of lube in your gym bag?" Jongin definitely sees that question coming.

"I sometimes get aroused after a good workout," Jongin confesses. "But don't worry. The most I do is have a quick wank."

"I'm not particularly concerned about that... Just curious." Kyungsoo meekly says, still getting off of Jongin and off the bed so he can get rid of his briefs. He makes it so that his nether regions remain out of view, with most of the credit going to his large shirt. Jongin does not know why that turns him on more than it should.

"I'm a little nervous," Kyungsoo says as he resumes his straddling position, and twisting his hand over to get his lubed finger behind. "It's been a while."

"You did say you haven't dated in a while." Jongin remarks, gauging Kyungsoo's expression attentively. _Until me, that is._

Jongin has no idea what's going on behind there, at least not the explicit details, but he quite enjoys the view right now. Quiet sighs escaping the parted full lips of the male above him, they sound heavenly in Jongin's ears.

"Come on," Jongin urges, has sprung his dick free from the suffocation within his sweatpants, rock hard. He slips a hand around Kyungsoo's back and presses him onto him, teasing the fat cockhead around the curve of Kyungsoo's ass, impatient.

"Wait, hold on, do you want to rip me apart or something?" Kyungsoo says, his fingers still inside himself and he has to use his free hand to push against Jongin's chest.

Jongin smiles lazily, feathering touches around Kyungsoo's hips. "Ripping you apart sounds nice." He says this while leaning forward, again slipping his hand under and feeling for Kyungsoo's knuckles which some are already buried within, and then slides his own dry middle finger along with the three digits that Kyungsoo already has inside.

"Jongin, too much..." Kyungsoo pants, trying to get his own fingers out but Jongin holds his wrist still.

"Patience, love, I'm much bigger than this," Jongin can hear the squelching sounds of lube from under. He has never done anal before so this is his first time having his finger shoved up someone's ass.

He quickly rummages through his bag for the several packets of condom he usually stashed there, and tears one off with his teeth, quickly putting it on his own member albeit a little sloppily. He has never felt this excited having sex with someone before.

Getting his finger out and then grabbing Kyungsoo's wrist to pull the rest of the latter's knuckles out, he brings Kyungsoo forward so he can line up his own cock against the lubed entrance. The shirt keeps getting in the way but Kyungsoo seems to want it on, so all Jongin can manage is to bunch up the material above Kyungsoo's ass, keeping it that way with one hand.

Kyungsoo does not stay passive for long, for he helps Jongin guide the cock to his entrance and then presses down, the tip going in rather easily.

_It's slippery_, is what Jongin thinks, as he lets Kyungsoo slowly sink himself deeper. It is more slippery than vaginal penetration, and he catches himself with these thoughts because it is exactly what Kyungsoo fears when dating him; feeling like he's being used as an experiment. Jongin is conscious of that, but he just cannot help but compare the experiences together. It does not necessarily mean he will get back to dating girls after having a taste of Kyungsoo.

"It's not all in yet," Jongin says when he notices Kyungsoo has stopped sinking down and that the base of his cock is yet to be unsheathed.

"Wait--" Kyungsoo's pleas come out a second too late when Jongin forces the smaller man's hips all the way down, completely sheathing the girth. Kyungsoo's hands are balled together, eyes screwed shut and his panting comes out stunted from the shock of feeling _so full_ and stretched _so big_. "Jongin--"

Jongin feels downright _delirious,_ from how _tight_ Kyungsoo feels around him. _This is so fucking erotic_. He already wants to move, but Kyungsoo halts him so by locking lips with him, as if telling him to be patient while he waits for his muscles to fully adjust to Jongin's size, and it makes Jongin realize this is their first time kissing that night.

Jongin mutters a quick apology before asking Kyungsoo how the latter is feeling. All he got as a response was a quiet 'full' accompanied with a mewl. The thighs on top of him are quaking. Feeling a little bad, Jongin runs his hand over Kyungsoo's back, trying to get him to relax. There is nothing he can do about his size.

He wonders how it looks down there, and instead of acting on it, he simply fingers the rim of Kyungsoo's hole, stretched taut around Jongin's cock so obscenely. It is not a wonder Kyungsoo feels full.

Seconds later, Kyungsoo rests his hands on Jongin's shoulders and starts lifting his hips up. This feels too fucking good it takes all of Jongin not to thrust up into him and just let Kyungsoo set the pace. The hand that was bunching Kyungsoo's shirt up loosens and journeys on to grab a handful of ass, pulling one cheek apart so Kyungsoo can slam himself down better.

The pace begins to grow frustrating for him, making him pat Kyungsoo's thigh twice to get his attention, wanting something else. Kyungsoo hazily heeds to him, getting off the cock and letting Jongin manhandle him, and it has him ended up on all fours on the bed, ass up, before the cock slips inside again.

Jongin puts on a brutal pace, pressing the heel of his palm against the small of Kyungsoo's back so he can arch more.

"Jongin," Kyungsoo gasps out, his hand flailing trying to get Jongin's attention. "Can- Can we not do it like this? It's scary..."

It thankfully cracks through the haze of Jongin's lust. He pauses and takes his dick out before flipping Kyungsoo on his back, who sighs in relief at being able to see Jongin's face. He cups Jongin's face lovingly, pulling him in for a sloppy, wet kiss, while spreading his legs wider to welcome Jongin back again.

They went at it for three rounds that night before Kyungsoo passes out in exhaustion.

-

On D-day of the tournament, or essentially, the next morning, Jongin wakes up much earlier than he would have liked to even on regular days, because he has a bus to catch with the rest of his fellow swimmers, but he isn't fully fatigued. The sex last night with Kyungsoo must have relaxed his muscles, just like what his coach had so graciously suggested.

He kisses his boyfriend goodbye and promises of meeting at the venue later are exchanged.

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo wakes up two hours later with a throbbing back pain, partially limping, rushing to dress up and then heading over to Baekhyun's room to wake him up so they can go to the venue together. The tournament is hosted at another university owing to their much bigger competitive swimming pool and audience capacity.

They apparently missed the preliminaries, but are told that Jongin and several others of his teammates made the finals.

Finding the upper level seats two rows away from the frontmost row, Kyungsoo settles down with a bottle of mineral water in his hand and a portable fan in the other. Baekhyun brings out the snacks he packed the night before, and Kyungsoo is extremely thankful for having an efficient and well-prepared friend like Baekhyun, although the latter did wake up later than what both have promised.

The pain from being taken by Jongin last night still persists, and like the good friend Baekhyun is, there is no end to his teasing. Kyungsoo endures it as a price for his company, but it is not like he would have any other friend to come with him anyway. He himself wonders where the courage from last night came from, for he would not have done what he did last night on any regular day.

He went with the flow of things, and if that meant him ending up sitting on Jongin's dick, so be it. There were no regrets the morning he woke up; if anything, he believes it would make having Jongin around and initiating intimate gestures a comfortable and welcomed thing for him. Jongin made him open up (both his heart and his legs).

In all the time that they have arrived there, the ongoing events do not seem to be the events Jongin are partaking in. Despite having often observed the swimming practice right before their scuba diving lessons, Kyungsoo has no real basic knowledge of competitive swimming. All he knows is that the swimmers always have a need to surpass their personal best records, and that Jongin is one of the team's best swimmers.

"When is his event starting?" Baekhyun asks, yawning widely while eyeing the athletes on the platforms who are taking their starting stances. "Ah, would you just look at their bodies... Fucking swimmers, man."

The sharp splashes of water quickly precede the whistle blown, and the audience roars in their supporting cheers for the swimmers they root for. Kyungsoo takes a look at the digital board displaying the names of the events and the estimated time they would start. "It should be soon."

"I wonder if you guys sexing up last night would impact his performance today."

Kyungsoo looks appalled. "Would it really?"

"I was just wondering. Him making it into the finals should mean he's fine, right?" Baekhyun offers him a pack of energy bar to which Kyungsoo accepts and rips open. "He's not the one taking, anywa--"

Kyungsoo shoves the energy bar into his best friend's mouth, and steals a new one from Baekhyun's bag, his face red.

The current event comes to an end, and the female announcer reads the line up for the next event. Kyungsoo perks up upon hearing their university name followed by Jongin's name. "It's starting."

He pays attention to the athletes lining up and going to their respective platforms. Like Baekhyun said, their bodies are all toned and ripped, and Jongin is not even the slightest behind in that aspect. Kyungsoo feels a little silly for being too happy spotting his boyfriend there.

He has texted Jongin saying he's sorry for having missed their preliminaries, and that they would be there by the time their finals start. Jongin has not looked around at the audience seats, and Kyungsoo may have grown a little anxious. He wants Jongin to know that he is there, but he also fears of disrupting their concentration and mental fortitude.

The former urge overpowers the worry, and it prompts Kyungsoo to get up from the seats and takes the couple of steps down towards the barrier, ignoring Baekhyun's _where are you going._ Resting his hands on the ledge, he wonders if he should call out Jongin's name.

He however does not need to, because as Jongin is just about to put on his swimming cap and goggles, his brief scanning of the crowd brought him to the success of spotting Kyungsoo. He shoots him a confident smile, and Kyungsoo's elation manifests itself by him making little jumps on his feet.

"Back to our seats, lover boy. You're starting to give me second hand embarrassment here," Baekhyun drags him back to their seats and Kyungsoo lets him. He brings out his phone and opens the camera, immediately tapping the red record button.

Comes the blow of the whistle, Kyungsoo feels his own heart skip a beat as the swimmers shift from airborne to underwater, and marvels when Jongin finally resurfaces to do his strokes - and he seems to be ahead than most of them, placing second for now.

"I'll take that for you," Baekhyun offers the assistance, calmly taking the phone from Kyungsoo's apparently trembling hands due to the rush of excitement.

Kyungsoo wants to cheer but at the same time he finds himself tongue-tied, and when Jongin reaches the turning point, he is even more anxious to the point of forgetting to breathe. His hands and feet are both cold, vibrating incessantly. Jongin appears to have caught up to the man placing first in the first half this time. It becomes a one-on-one battle between the two athletes who often interchange their positions but never beyond second place. They both make the other athletes appear weaker in comparison.

"They're supposed to make three turns, with four rounds in total, right?" Baekhyun asks.

"I- I think so," Kyungsoo quickly replies, his eyes never leaving his boyfriend. If what Baekhyun said is true, then this will be their final turning point. Jongin is currently neck to neck with that other athlete.

Kyungsoo's butt has risen up from his seat, his fists balled together on his knees, neck craned. They are still neck to neck 10 metres away from the finishing point, and Kyungsoo feels his heart stop once they finally touch the wall. He blinks, confused, because they seem to have touched the wall at the same time.

"Oh my god, Kyungsoo, he _won,"_ Baekhyun exclaims rather monotonously, pointing at the scoreboard. Kyungsoo gapes, stands up too quickly and feels the blood rush too fast to his legs, and is ultimately too dizzy to say anything. He sees Jongin pump a fist in the air while eyeing Kyungsoo.

"If this were figure skating, he would have probably ran to hug you first thing in the kiss and cry area." Baekhyun comments, the phone camera panned to Kyungsoo who is still standing there speechlessly. He finally puts the phone down, and Kyungsoo thinks he must have stopped recording already.

Meanwhile, down at the pool area, Jongin's coach has seemingly approached the athlete to congratulate him, and it keeps Jongin preoccupied for now, so Kyungsoo sits back down, still feeling light-headed.

Their event seems to have been the second last event, with the team relay event following it. Kyungsoo has just texted Jongin saying that they will be waiting for him after the prize giving and photography session, if Jongin ever planned on seeing them. Kyungsoo thinks that just meeting up at their university would be fine too.

He watches the events wrap up as the announcer wishes the best of luck to the swimmers that made the nationals. Kyungsoo is now steadily recording the prize giving ceremony, watching Jongin getting the gold medal for the individual medley event.

All that excitement from just now must have accelerated the filling of his bladder. "Hey, I'm gonna make a quick one to the washroom."

"Sure, I'll just be here." Baekhyun says distractedly, typing a text in his messenger app. Kyungsoo makes a move after taking his phone from Baekhyun, power walking his way out to find the washrooms.

After peeing and cleaning his hands, he takes out his phone and opens up his chat, finding that Jongin has not even read the text. He plans on calling him a little later, thinking that the swimmer is probably still busy down at the pool there, but a stroke of luck finds him running into the very man himself.

-

"The bus is here!" The manager calls out to the swimmers and instructs them to board.

"Man, in the end, not even half of us made the nationals." Wonshik sighs after sinking into his seat in the bus.

"Hey, isn't it great that we even have some of us making the nationals? I thought none of us would make it," His teammate says. "Jongin is fucking amazing. Dude broke his own personal best again."

"I saw his new boyfriend in the crowd. Tell you what, they're pretty crazy for each other."

"Was he cheering for him?"

"He's his boyfriend, what did you expect?"

"But I mean, he's dated chicks before but he wasn't crazy for them."

"Hey, where is he anyway?"

"We're missing one of you," The manager says with a frown, making another quick scan of the list and mentally checking the swimmers that are already there when one name does not seem to have its owner physically present.

-

Jongin has a gold medal around his neck, the pride of a winner, and a pretty boyfriend against the lockers of the changing rooms.

"Looks like you're going to nationals," Kyungsoo says, giggling, in between their makeout session. His hands cling to Jongin's sides as the swimmer presses against him to steal another kiss, and another, and another.

Pulling away, Jongin removes the medal from around his neck, and puts it around Kyungsoo's.

"Hm? Is this supposed to mean you won for me?" Kyungsoo looks down at the circular golden plate, turning it over to have a good look.

Jongin smiles, not just meaning that, but he is not about to tell Kyungsoo the other meaning now. "If you please." He starts thumbing the anchor stud on Kyungsoo's lobe lovingly. "Come cheer for me at nationals, too."

In return, Kyungsoo thumbs on Jongin's right lobe, his eyes lighting up in recognition at the same anchor stud earring, and Jongin feels extremely thankful for sparing a minute this morning to change his earrings. They both are now wearing the completed pair.

Kyungsoo giggles, the kind that scrunches up his whole face cutely and makes his shoulders lift. "You know I will."


End file.
